IJENflY  CLAY  PAYNE 


A  LIF 


HENRY   CLAY   PAYNE 


MILWAUKEE 

BURDICK  AND  ALLEN,   PRINTERS 
1907 


preface 


MILWAUKEE,  October  4,  1906. 

Mrs.  Lydia  W .  Payne. 

MADAME:  At  your  request,  with  data  mainly  fur 
nished  by  you  and  by  Mr.  Whitney,  I  have  prepared  the 
following  biographical  sketch  of  your  husband.  You  will 
readily  observe  that  not  all  the  material  placed  at  my 
disposal  has  been  employed.  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Payne's 
death  many  of  his  friends  and  admirers  wrote  you  letters 
of  appreciation  of  his  life  and  character  and  tributes  of 
their  affection  for  him.  All  of  these  I  would  gladly  have 
gathered  into  these  pages  save  that  the  result  would  have 
been  a  volume  too  cumbersome  for  biographical  purpose 
and  a  cloying  of  the  narrative  by  frequent  repetition  of  the 
same  encomium.  I  have  therefore  ventured  to  scatter 
through  this  volume  only  such  letters  of  tribute  and  rem 
iniscence  as  illustrate  the  successive  periods  of  Mr. 
Payne's  life  and  illuminate  his  character.  I  respectfully 
suggest  to  you  that  all  the  letters,  used  and  unused,  be 
bound  in  their  autograph  and  preserved  in  some  historical 
library. 

You  will  recall  that  you  placed  also  in  my  hands  a 
large  number  of  clippings  pertaining  to  the  entire  period 


of  Mr.  Payne's  public  career.  Many  of  these  he,  himself, 
severed  from  newspapers  and  pasted  in  scrap  books. 
Articles  of  praise  and  of  criticism  were  alike  included  by 
him.  Scanning  these  fugitive  pieces  has  recalled  to  me 
many  a  slanderous  accusation  published  concerning  Mr. 
Payne  during  his  busy  and  active  life.  Conscious  of  his 
rectitude  of  purpose,  animated  with  a  lofty  desire  to 
benefit  his  party,  his  city,  his  state,  his  country,  Mr.  Payne 
suffered  those  calumnies  to  pass  unrefuted.  I  have  not 
chosen  to  revivify  them  for  the  mere  purpose  of  destroy 
ing  and  denouncing  them. 

To-day  is  the  second  anniversary  of  your  distin 
guished  husband's  death.  To-day  I  complete  this  vol 
ume  portraying  in  some  measure  his  career  and  character, 
and  place  it  at  your  service.  I  trust  that  the  interest  I 
have  felt  in  its  preparation  may  be  shared  by  you  and  by 
his  friends  in  its  perusal. 

WILLIAM  W.  WIGHT. 


Contents 


CHAPTER 

I.  Ancestry  and  Early  Years i 

II.  Northampton 9 

III.  Early  Life  in  Milwaukee 16 

IV.  Early  Elections 22 

V.  The  Milwaukee  Post  Office 27 

VI.  The  Milwaukee  Club  Dinner 35 

VII.  "Milwaukee  a  Republican  County" 40 

VIII.  Business  Again 48 

IX.  Concerning  Street  Railways 56 

X.  The  Northern  Pacific  Receivership 79 

XL  Later  Elections  and  the  St.  Louis  Convention  86 
XII.  Unequal  Representation  in  Conventions ....   99 

XIII.  McKinley  and  Roosevelt 107 

XIV.  Postmaster-General    114 

XV.  Investigation  of  the  Post  Office  Department  123 

XVI.  "The  Charges  Concerning  Members" 142 

XVII.  The  Last  Things .  .  162 

XVIII.  "An  Unappreciated  Type" 175 


CHAPTER  I 


3nce0trg  ano  OEarlp  gears 

In  the  records  of  the  ancient  town  of  Braintree,  in  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  is  entered  this  paragraph: 

Deacon  Samuel  Bass,  aged  94,  departed  this  life  upon  the  30th 
day  of  December,  1694;  who  had  been  a  deacon  of  the  church  of 
Braintree  for  the  space  of  above  50  years,  and  the  first  deacon  of 
that  church ;  and  was  the  father  and  grandfather  and  great  grand 
father  of  a  hundred  and  sixty-two  children  before  he  died.* 

Among  the  great  grandchildren  of  this  venerable 
patriarch  of  the  early  church  of  New  England  was 
Samuel  Paine.  He  was  born  in  the  spring  of  1689  and 
was  grandson  of  Stephen  Paine  and  Hannah  Bass  and  son 
of  Stephen  Paine  and  Ellen  Veasey.  These  three  genera 
tions  of  Paines  and  Mr.f  Moses  Paine,  the  father  of  the 
earlier  Stephen,  were  dwellers  in  Braintree.  Here  was 
born  June  30,  1735,  Samuel's  son,  Joseph  Ruggles  Paine, 
whose  sirname  in  the  records  often  lacked  the  final  letter. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  company  of  Captain  Jabez  Snow, 
in  the  wars  so  frequent  against  the  French  and  Indians, 
in  the  decade  before  the  American  Revolution. 

About  1767  Joseph  Ruggles  Pain  journeyed  west 
ward  from  Braintree  and  made  his  home  in  the  south 
western  part  of  what  is  now  Franklin  County,  Massa 
chusetts,  in  the  town  of  Ashfield. 

*Thayer's  Family  Memorial,  page  53. 

f"Mr."  is  always  found  with  the  name  of  Moses  Paine.  In  the 
early  records  Mr.  imports  social  precedence. 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


Early  Ashfield  had  experienced  as  disturbed,  if  not  as 
sad  and  memorable,  a  history  as  its  neighbor  Deerfield. 
More  than  once  abandoned  through  fear  of  Indian  massa 
cres,  more  than  once  re-occupied,  it  had  finally,  in  1765, 
become  incorporated  as  a  town. 

It  is  not  an  especially  fertile  region.  It  abounds  in 
hills  whose  deep  valleys  lend  themselves  more  profitably 
to  grazing  than  to  tillage.  In  one  of  the  almost  inacces 
sible  and  quite  solitary  portions  of  Ashfield,  almost  on 
the  line  of  Buckland  town,  near  a  small  settlement  now 
called  Baptist  Corners,  can  still  be  seen  the  cellar  of  the 
home  of  Joseph  Ruggles  Pain.  The  cluster  of  houses 
took  its  name  from  the  church  near  at  hand,  whose  site  is 
indicated  by  a  granite  boulder,  bearing  a  tablet  with  this 
legend,  "First  Baptist  Church,  built  1775,  removed  1831." 
Adjoining  the  Pain  home  was  the  house  where  was  born 
Mary  Lyon,  the  founder  of  Mount  Holyoke  seminary. 
Near  by  is  the  meager  and  ill-kept  graveyard  where  are 
still  seen  the  mortuary  stones  showing  that  Joseph  R. 
Pain  died  April  17,  1822,  aged  eighty-eight  years,  and 
that  his  wife  Mehetable  (whose  maiden  name  was  Git- 
tings)  died  February  18,  1831,  aged  eighty-five  years. 

Of  the  family  life  of  this  couple  upon  their  Ashfield 
farm,  little  is  preserved.  We  know  that  Joseph  was  a 
soldier  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  in  the  regiment  of 
Colonel  Elijah  Porter,  his  enlistment  beginning  July  10, 
1777.*  We  know  also  that  he  was  the  father  of  two 
daughters  and  six  sons,  that  one  of  these  last  was  named 
Joseph,  and  that  his  wife  was  Anna  Billings.  Their  son, 
Stephen  Payne — for  so  the  sirname  now  began  to  be 

^Revolutionary  War  Archives,  XXII,  37. 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS 


spelled — married  Laura  nlmer,  who  was  born  February 
1 8,  1800.  Among  several  children  of  this  wedlock  was 
Orrin  Pierre  Payne,  born  May  22,  1820,  the  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  biography. 

The  home  of  Orrin,  the  natal  spot  of  his  son  Henry, 
was  not  at  Baptist  Corners,  but  in  Ashfield  village,  called 
also  Ashfield  Plain,  and  colloquially  Shirkshire.  The 
house  was  a  two-story  frame  cottage,  with  ample  porch 
in  front,  gambrel  roof  and  dormer  windows,  sheltered 
with  abundant  trees  and  having  a  road  leading  along  be 
hind  to  the  cosy  barn.  Here  Orrin  brought  his  wife  Eliza 
Etta  Ames,  whom  he  married  November  13,  1842.  She 
was  the  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Amarylis  (Mallory) 
Ames  and  wras  born  at  Stockton,  New  York,  June  22, 
1826. 

Of  their  four  children,  two  were  born  in  Ashfield : 
Henry  Clay,  born  November  23,  1843,  an<^  Iniogene,  born 
September  21,  1845.  Iniogene  is  the  wife  of  Winfield 
Scott  Cameron  and  resides  at  Jamestown,  New  York. 

About  1846  the  family  of  four  removed  to  the  neigh 
boring  village  of  Shelburne  Falls.  Although  young 
Henry  was  thus  separated  from  his  native  town  when  he 
was  but  three  years  of  age,  he  never  forgot  Ashfield  or 
neglected  in  mature  manhood  to  visit  the  scenes  of  his  in 
fancy.  Nor  have  the  inhabitants  of  Ashfield  ceased  to 
take  pride  in  one  of  the  most  honored  of  her  sons.  Since 
his  death  the  people  of  Ashfield  have  requested,  and  re 
ceived,  his  portrait  for  the  adornment  of  their  Town  Hall. 

In  1846  Shelburne  Falls  was  a  place  of  no  little  repute. 
It  is  a  village  split  in  two  by  the  Deerfield  River,  which 
here  severs  Shelburne  town  from  Buckland.  At  different 
times  the  Paynes  lived  on  both  sides  of  the  Deerfield 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


River,  which  here  is  bridged.  One  of  their  homes  was  a 
white  frame  cottage,  ivy  trimmed,  two  stories  in  height, 
with  sloping  roof,  and  the  porch  extending  outward  to 
the  walk  in  front.  Somewhat  later  their  home  was  one  of 
a  neat  row  of  two  story  frame  houses  with  generous  win 
dows  and  wide  green  blinds. 

At  Shelburne  Falls  were  born  the  two  younger  of  the 
children  of  Orrin  and  Eliza  Payne.  These  were  Frederick 
Wells,  born  August  26,  1847,  an(l  Mary  Eliza,  born  April 
7,  1851.  The  latter  died  when  quite  young;  Frederick 
died  in  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin,  July  27,  1876,  being  then 
deputy  collector  of  internal  revenue  in  Milwaukee. 

The  Paynes  of  Shelburne  Falls  were  not  a  family  of 
wealth  or  even  of  moderate  competency.  Orrin  Payne 
carried  the  mail  between  Shelburne  Falls  and  Green 
field,  and  upon  occasion  was  deputy  of  the  high  sheriff. 
He  was  a  man  of  high  character,  of  force  and  de 
termination,  and  sought  the  advancement  of  his  chil 
dren.  That  he  named  his  oldest  child  in  honor  of 
the  great  Whig  leader  of  the  United  States  not  only 
indicates  the  trend  of  his  politics,  but  suggests  that 
the  son  may  have  inherited  from  his  father  his  bent  for 
public  affairs.  The  father  died  December  20,  1886;  the 
mother  predeceased  him  on  April  3,  1886.  She  also  was 
a  person  of  mental  strength  and  native  ability. 

Young  Henry's  earliest  essays  at  knowledge  were  in 
the  district  school.  But,  one  day  when  he  was  about  eight 
years  of  age  he  was  observed  to  be  peering  curiously 
through  the  window  of  the  private  school  on  Conway 
Street,  where  his  sister  Imogene  was  at  study.  Asked 
his  errand  by  the  teacher,  Miss  Diana  S.  Bowen,  he  re 
quested,  and  was  accorded,  permission  to  become  a  pupil. 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS 


Thus  began  a  friendship  between  that  young  student  and 
his  teacher,  which  never  faltered.  Miss  Bowen  was  one 
of  those  natural  instructors  who  exert  an  abiding  in 
fluence  over  the  growing  mind.  That  influence  was 
especially  exerted  over  Henry,  in  whose  busy,  thoughtful 
intellect  she  early  saw  the  promise  of  great  success.  As 
long  as  he  lived  they  maintained  a  frequent  correspond 
ence,  while  his  gratitude  for  her  counsels  and  respect  for 
her  instruction  found  annual  expression  more  substantial 
than  words.  Miss  Bowen,  almost  an  octogenarian,*  still 
survives,  in  North  Adams,  Massachusetts,  to  mourn  that 
too  frequent  reversal  of  nature  by  \vhich  fathers  outlive 
their  sons  and  teachers  their  pupils. 

From  Miss  Bowen's  school  Henry  passed  to  the 
Franklin  Academy.  This  academy  was  a  famous  build 
ing  when  completed  in  1830,  for  it  was  the  first  three- 
story  structure  erected  in  Franklin  County,  and  people 
journeyed  from  all  about  to  Shelburne  Falls  to  gaze  upon 
its  dizzy  height. f  There  was  little  inspiration  to  study 
in  its  plain  brick  walls,  evenly  punctuated  with  rows  of 
unornamented  windows,  and  with  the  bare  playground  in 
front.  From  this  school  Henry  graduated  in  1859. 

But  he  had  other  employment  than  study  while  in 
Shelburne  Falls.  When  yet  quite  young  and  so  short  that 
his  eyes  scarce  appeared  above  the  counter,  he  worked 
after  school  hours  in  the  store  of  L.  M.  Packard.  From 
this  store  he  promoted  himself  eventually  to  a  position  in 
the  village  post  office,  Miss  Bowen's  brother,  Alfred,  be 
ing  then  the  postmaster.  The  office  then  stood  not  far 


*Miss  Bowen  was  born  in  March,  1827. 
fCrittenden's  Personal  Recollections,  17. 


6  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

from  the  bridge  upon  the  north  side  of  the  Main  Street — 
an  insignificant  one-story  affair  with  a  plenitude  of  porch. 
Here  for  a  stipend  of  one  dollar  per  week,  Henry  did  the 
daily  chores  and  ran  the  early  errands  ere  hastening  to 
school.  He  did  not  occupy  this  position  very  long,  how 
ever,  yielding  the  place  to  his  friend,  Charles  Albert  May- 
nard,  now  of  Northampton,  Massachusetts. 

The  Payne  family  in  Shelburne  Falls,  like  their  an 
cestors  at  Baptist  Corners,  were  of  the  Baptist  denomina 
tion  and  attended  the  ancient  meeting  house  of  that  faith 
in  Shelburne  Falls — a  brick,  ivy-grown,  Gothic-arched, 
square-towered  building,  still  used  as  the  Baptist  church. 
Here  preached  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Gray,  later  a  chaplain  in 
the  United  States  Senate;  here  Flenry's  mother  and  sister 
sang  in  the  villag-e  choir,  and  here  it  was  Henry's  occupa 
tion  regularly  to  pump  the  organ  for  the  Sunday  singing. 

On  Saturdays  Henry's  duties  as  secretary  of  The 
Band  of  Hope,  called  him  punctually  to  its  meetings. 
Declamations  and  recitations  were  the  chief  feature  of 
these  gatherings,  and  it  was  observed  that  the  speeches  of 
statesmen  like  Patrick  Henry  and  Webster  were  his 
favorite  efforts.  Indeed  it  has  not  yet  been  forgotten  in 
Shelburne  Falls  that  political  topics  were  often  the  theme 
of  his  conversation,  and  that  these  he  could  discuss  with 
his  elders  with  ability  and  skill.  His  father  used  to  relate 
that  when  Henry,  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  was  recover 
ing  from  typhoid  fever,  the  burden  of  his  daily  request 
was  that  the  newspapers  should  be  saved  for  him  until  he 
was  strong  enough  to  read.  Election  day  arrived  ere  he 
was  fully  convalescent  and  his  father,  at  his  earnest  peti 
tion,  carefully  protected  the  young  invalid  and  bore  him 
to  the  polls  that  he  might  watch  his  father  vote. 


ANCESTRY  AND  EARLY  YEARS 


In  the  fall  of  1859  Henry  took  his  first  brief  flight 
from  the  parental  roof,  thus  gradually  severing  the  home 
ties  which  were  soon  to  be  perpetually  broken.  Yet  Shel- 
burne  Falls  always  held  a  warm  place  in  his  heart. 
Thither  he  returned  with  delight  long  after  the  death  of 
his  parents  abolished  the  home  life  there.  To  no  other 
place  did  his  own  death  bring  keener  sorrow.  When  the 
village  was  erecting  a  Memorial  Hall  for  the  soldiers  of 

£3  O 

Shelburne  Falls  who  died  in  the  War  of  1861,  he  was 
written  to  for  a  subscription  of  one  hundred  dollars.  The 
money  was  forthcoming  by  return  mail,  with  a  cordial 
letter  from  Mr.  Payne  and  an  intimation  that  the  sub 
scription  would  have  been  much  larger  had  it  been  asked. 

In  the  lobby  of  the  post  office  at  Shelburne  Falls,  in 
the  Shelburne  Falls  Club  rooms,  in  the  Arms  Library,  his 
picture,  by  the  request  of  these  institutions,  now  hangs, 
attesting  the  belief  of  those  who  gaze  upon  the  face  that 
they  "have  been  made  better  by  coming  in  contact  with  a 
nature  so  genial  and  genuine  as  Henry  Payne's." 

Beginning  with  the  fall  term  of  1859  Henry  and  his 
friend,  Charles  Maynard,  went  together  to  Powers  In 
stitute  at  Bernardston,  a  place  quite  a  distance  northeast 
of  Shelburne  Falls,  but  in  the  same  county  of  Franklin. 
The  Institute  was  then  but  two  years  old,  having  been 
established  by  the  liberality  of  Edward  Epps  Powers,  a 
citizen  of  Columbus,  Georgia,  but  a  native  of  Bernards- 
ton.  Henry  and  Charles  roomed  together  during  the 
terms  of  1859  and  1860.  Charles  did  not  return  for  a 
second  year,  but  his  brother,  Austin  S.  Maynard,  later  a 
merchant  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  was  a  pupil,  and 
the  roommate  of  Henry  during  the  terms  of  1860  and 
1 86 1.  During  this  period  Professor  La  Fayette  Ward 


8  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

was  the  principal  of  the  Institute — a  teacher  highly 
spoken  of  by  them  of  his  tutelage,  but  compelled  by  fail 
ing  health  to  abandon  the  scholastic  life  in  1870. 

As  the  year  1861  and  the  age  of  eighteen  years  closed 
Henry's  school  privileges,  it  is  not  amiss  here  to  record 
that  he  was  a  quick  and  keen  student,  that  he  grasped 
readily  the  problems  and  the  principles  of  the  subjects  he 
pursued,  that  his  habits  were  scholarly,  his  personality  en 
gaging,  his  heart  kindly,  and  that  he  was  ever  ready  to 
assist  the  perplexed  plodder  who  lagged  by  the  way. 


NORTHAMPTON 


CHAPTER  II 


Ji3ortf)ampton 

Henry's  removal  to  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  was 
upon  the  advice  of  his  former  teacher,  Miss  Bowen,  who 
coveted  a  wider  field  for  her  promising  pupil.  The  exact 
date  of  this  removal  is  not  discovered,  but  it  appears  that 
Henry  returned  from  Bernardston  to  his  father's  home  in 
Shelburnc  Falls  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and  that  within  a 
year  he  had  taken  a  position  as  a  clerk  in  a  store  in 
Northampton.  This  was  the  store  of  F.  R.  Sherwin  and 
Company — a  partnership  consisting  of  Frank  R.  Sherwin 
(a  former  Shelburne  Falls  acquaintance,  somewhat  older 
than  Henry)  and  John  Warner — dealers  in  dry  goods 
and  cloaks  on  Main  Street,  being  the  store  now  occupied 
by  A.  G.  Fearing. 

With  this  firm  Henry  remained  until  the  senior  mem 
ber,  inoculated  with  the  Western  fever,  caused  its  dissolu 
tion,  January  26,  1863.  An  advertisement  in  the  papers 
of  the  next  day,  signed  by  Mr.  Sherwin,  informed  the 
business  world  that  "Henry  C.  Payne  has  power  of  attor 
ney  for  the  transaction  of  all  business  in  the  name  of  the 
subscriber.  All  business  of  the  late  firm  is  left  in  his 
hands  for  settlement."  This  was  perhaps  the  first  appear 
ance  in  print  of  the  name  of  Henry  C.  Payne — a  name 
which,  upon  his  death  forty  years  later,  filled  the  papers 
of  the  continent. 

After  closing  up  this  business  and  after,  for  a  few 


10  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

days,  "assisting  Stoddard  and  Lincoln  in  taking  an  in 
ventory  and  in  writing  up  their  books,"  Henry  accepted 
employment  as  bookkeeper  some  two  miles  from  the 
center  of  Northampton,  in  the  office  of  the  paper  mill  firm 
of  William  Clark  and  Company.  The  partnership  was 
composed  of  William  Clark  and  his  sons,  William  and 
Lucius  Clark.  This  employment  began  March  23,  1863, 
and  continued  until  about  the  beginning  of  October,  1863, 
the  compensation  being  at  the  rate  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  per  year.  On  the  fifth  of  the  latter  month, 
having  himself  contracted  the  Western  fever,  Henry,  as 
his  diary  tells  us,  "bade  good-bye  to  Northampton." 

We  pause  before  following  him  to  the  city  of  his  per 
manent  home,  because  the  glimpses  of  his  daily  life  in 
Northampton,  obtained  from  his  diary  and  from  the 
reminiscences  of  his  Northampton  friends,  are  very  use 
ful  in  enabling  us  to  picture,  and  to  appreciate,  a  character 
nowr  pretty  thoroughly  formed. 

Employing  the  sermonic  method  of  dividing  the  sub 
ject,  it  will  be  said  that  the  following  traits  of  the  youth 
ful  Henry's  character  appear : 

Firstly,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  affairs  of  his 
country.  The  struggle  waging  so  bitterly  and  so  unsuc 
cessfully  in  1862  for  the  preservation  of  the  union  of  the 
states,  lay  heavily  upon  his  mind.  His  interest  found 
sincerest  expression  in  his  effort  to  enlist,  and  in  his  urg 
ing  his  friends,  Charles  and  Austin  Maynard,  then  in 
Boston,  to  follow  his  example.  His  recruiting  letter  thus 

reads : 

NORTH  AM  PTON,  Aug.  22,   1862. 
FRIEND  CHARLEY  : 

I  am  going  to  enlist  in  a  company  raising  here.  Now,  won't 
you  come  and  go,  too?  It  is  a  good  company  and  good  men  and 


NORTHAMPTON  11 


fellows  in  it.  Some  of  the  first  in  town.  I  hear  that  Austin  is 
with  you.  Tell  him  to  come  up  here  with  you  and  go  with  me.  It 
is  only  for  nine  months,  and  you  know  that  will  pass  away  soon. 

I  leave  as  good  a  place  as  any  one  could  wish.  I  never  was  so 
well  pleased  in  my  life.  Have  things  all  my  own  way.  But  you 
know  we  should  not.  look  to  self  as  much  now.  We  owe  our  lives 
to  our  country  and  to  our  God,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  I  will  lay 
down  my  life  for  it. 

Now  come  without  fail.  Don't  mind  your  place.  You  can't  be 
more  pleasantly  situated  than  I  am. 

Write  me  as  soon  as  you  receive  this,  telling  me  \vhat  you  will 
do.  Don't  say  you  won't  go.  Write  soon. 

It  is  the  fault  of  nature,  not  of  Henry  Payne,  that  his 
career  was  not  military.  He  applied  for  enlistment  in 
Company  H  of  the  Tenth  Massachusetts  Infantry  regi 
ment,  but  he  was  rejected  as  being-  too  slight  and  as  be 
ing  undersized.  This  regiment  and  the  Fifty-second 
Massachusetts  regiment  were  largely  composed  of  soldiers 
gathered  from  the  neighborhood  of  Northampton  and 
Shelburne  Falls,  and  he  followed  the  movements  of  these 
troops  with  great  concern,  marking  their  campaigns  and 
the  number  of  their  casualties. *  Moreover,  his  diary  for 
the  year  1863  shows  how  his  mind  was  running  upon  the 
struggle.  Thus,  under  July  14,  ''Began  to  draft  to-day;" 
under  July  15,  ''Drafted  in  Buckland  to-day;"  under  July 
1 6,  "Charles  Fieldf  drafted;"  under  July  16,  "'Came  back 
to  Greenfield,  and  saw  them  draft  from  Northampton. 

*The  Fifty-second  Massachusetts  was  a  regiment  of  nine  months 
men  whose  service  was  in  Louisiana.  Its  enlistment  expired  in 
August,  1863.  The  Tenth  regiment  served  entirely  in  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  It  was  recruited  June  21,  iSoi,  and  saw  sanguinary 
service  at  Fair  Oaks,  Fredericksburg,  the  Gettysburg  Campaign,  the 
Wilderness,  Spotsylvania  and  Cold  Harbor.  Its  enlistment  ended 
June  21,  1864,  when  ten  officers  and  137  men  were  discharged. 

fCharles  Field  had  been  Henry  Payne's  roommate  in  the  house 
of  Mr.  Henry  Shepherd  from  the  autumn  of  1862  until  the  following 
spring,  when  Henry  removed  to  the  home  of  Mrs.  Elihu  Clark  on 
Elm  Street. 


12  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

List  of  drafted  men" — then  follows  a  list  of  two  hundred 
and  twenty  men,  not  a  few  of  them  doubtless  Henry's 
personal  friends.* 

We  read  further,  under  May  6  and  May  7  that  the  de 
feat  of  General  Hooker  at  Fredericksburg  was  the  ''sad 
dest  news  of  the  war;"  under  May  24,  "Great  news  from 
Vicksburg;"  under  July  6,  "Good  news  from  army  Poto 
mac;"  under  July  7,  "News  of  taking  of  Vicksburg,  great 
rejoicing" — laconic  entries  in  a  laconic  diary,  yet  disclos 
ing  the  public  spirit  and  patriotism  of  the  lad  of  nineteen. 

Secondly,  Henry  was  scrupulous  as  to  his  obligations 
to  his  employers.  His  service  was  not  merely  a  matter  of 
regularly  drawing  his  stipulated  wage,  but  rather  of  sub 
stantially  advancing  his  employers'  interests,  which  with 
loyalty  and  enthusiasm  he  invariably  made  his  own.  No 
clerk,  shouting  the  praises  of  a  competitor's  merchandise, 
could  outtalk  or  outsell  Henry.  No  friend  of  either  sex, 
with  any  blandishment,  could  entice  him  to  recreations  or 
amusements  during  the  hours  mortgaged  to  another's 
business.  Thus  early  as  ever  afterward  he  conscien 
tiously  respected  his  contracts  of  service. 

Thirdly,  in  Henry's  opinion  there  were  other  things 
in  life  besides  work  and  \vorry.  His  wras  essentially  a 
happy,  joyous,  mirthful  nature.  He  found  keen  pleasure 
in  sports  and  games;  his  look  was  on  life's  bright  side; 
his  laugh  was  frequent,  long  and  contagious.  The  limit 
of  his  love  for  fun  and  mischief  was  only  reached  when 
he  caused  grief  or  pain  to  others.  His  diary  discloses 
many  different  kinds  of  congenial  amusements — bowling, 


*For  account  of  the  draft  in  Massachusetts  in  1863,  see  War  of 
the  Rebellion  Official  Records,  Serial  Number  124,  references  in 
Index  under  Massachusetts. 


NORTHAMPTON  13 


boating,  ball,  chess,  cards,  fishing,  hunting;  while  sedater 
diversions — concerts,  plays,  lectures,  reading  clubs — were 
not  neglected.  He  was  accounted  in  Northampton  an  ex 
cellent  singer,  and  under  his  leadership  the  old-fashioned 
tunes  were  sung  with  such  relish  and  in  such  ringing  tones 
that  even  Old  Hundredth  and  Henley  ceased  to  be  doleful. 

A  person  thus  genial  and  blithe,  and  withal  generous 
and  high  minded,  must  win  and  hold  a  host  of  friends. 
This  was  Henry's  lot — he  made  friends  and  he  never  for 
got  them.  The  universal  opinion  of  those  who  have  writ 
ten  of  his  early  years  is,  that,  with  an  attractive  per 
sonality,  he  was  considerate  of  children,  chivalrous  to 
wards  young  women,  hearty  and  whole-souled  with  his 
fellows. 

Fourthly,  earnestness  and  concentration  were  his  lead 
ing  characteristics.  Nothing  was  done  by  him  in  a  half 
hearted  way.  A  Northampton  friend  has  written  that, 
when  he  was  reading,  the  surrounding  world  vanished 
from  his  thought.  Seated  one  day  in  a  boat,  which  he 
believed  was  moored  to  the  river's  bank,  his  face  was 
buried  in  the  pages  of  his  book,  only  to  be  lifted  to  the 
realities  of  life  when  his  bark  bumped  against  a  pier  far 
down  the  Connecticut.  The  same  earnestness  was  evident 
even  in  his  games — they  were  played  for  results.  He 
never  sat  at  cards  just  "to  make  up  a  hand,"  simply  "to 
pass  the  time  away,"  but,  like  the  celebrated  Mrs.  Battle, 
to  win,  and  with  all  the  "rigour  of  the  game."  Not  a  few 
entries  in  his  diary  disclose  the  name  of  his  partner,  the 
names  of  the  opponents  and  the  score,  which  almost  al 
ways  was  his  victory.  That  same  energy  and  desire  to 
conquer,  that  same  masterful  spirit,  ruled  him  later  in 


14  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

the  sterner  conflicts  of  his  busy  career  and  brought  him 
victory  in  the  end. 

Fifthly,  it  cannot  be  said  that  at  this  time  Henry  made 
prominent  the  religious  side  of  his  nature.  Yet  his  diary 
discloses  his  regular  attendance  upon  Sunday  services, 
while  his  frequent  singing  of  the  hymns  of  the  church 
suggests  his  familiarity  with  their  truths.  Moreover,  the 
letter  above  printed  in  which  he  urged  two  of  his  friends 
to  enlist,  betrays  that  Henry  needed  only  the  stimulus  of 
deep  emotion  to  reveal  his  reliance  upon  "the  grace  of 
God." 

That  the  traits  of  his  youth  followed  him  into  his 
maturer  years  there  is  no  lack  of  evidence.  One  who 
knew  him  long  and  well,  his  political  opponent,  but  his 
warm  personal  friend,  wrote  after  Henry's  death  the  fol 
lowing  expressions  as  to  his  business  and  social  traits. 
They  proceed  from  the  pen  of  Judge  James  G.  Jenkins, 
of  Milwaukee,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Circuit 
Court,  seventh  circuit : 

He  was  a  thorough  business  man,  quiet,  unobtrusive,  but  watch 
ful  and  thorough.  Once  convinced  of  the  proper  course  to  pursue, 
he  had  the  indomitable  will  to  follow  that  course  regardless  of 
opposition,  which  only  intensified  his  action.  In  that  respect  I  have 
seen  him  tried  as  few  men  have  been  tested,  and  he  came  from  the 
crucible  refined  gold.  No  consideration  of  mere  business  success 
could  swerve  him  from  what  he  deemed  just  and  honorable.  Against 
the  opposition  even  of  friends  and  associates  in  business,  he  stood  for 
what  he  deemed  the  right.  He  was  a  high-minded,  public-spirited 
citizen,  generous  to  a  fault,  aiding  every  worthy  public  enterprise, 
helpful  to  the  deserving  needy. 

It  is,  however,  in  the  light  of  his  social  character  that  I  love  to 
consider  him.  Here  he  shone  resplendent.  When  he  could  for  a 
time  lay  aside  the  burden  of  life's  cares  and  troubles,  with  boyish 
enthusiasm  he  revelled  in  the  delights  of  social  life  and  friendly 
intercourse.  Here  he  was  at  home  and  at  ease.  He  was  loyal, 
sincere,  true.  His  friends  he  "grappled  to  his  heart  with  hoops  of 


NORTHAMPTON  15 


steel."  He  loved  their  society.  He  loved  their  friendship,  and  to  a 
marked  degree  he  compelled  the  love  of  those  who  felt  constrained 
to  oppose  his  course.  Bright,  joyous,  sympathetic,  he  delighted  in 
the  innocent  pleasures  of  life  with  the  ardor  of  youth.  Only  with 
the  passing  away  of  the  friends  who  for  a  time  remain,  shall  the 
memory  of  his  genial  and  lovable  character  perish  from  the  earth. 
The  memory  of  his  service  to  his  country  is  secured  in  the  history 
of  the  nation. 

A  single  sentence  from  another  political  opponent,  a 
dweller  in  a  far  distant  state,  Congressman  Ariosto  A. 
Wiley,  of  Montgomery,  Alabama : 

I  knew  him  well  and  never  met  a  more  gracious  and  kindly, 
natural  gentleman. 


16  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  III 


OEarlj?  Life  in  Qjjilbmukee 

The  influence  of  his  former  employer  doubtless  brought 
Henry  Payne  to  Milwaukee.  Not  a  few  jottings  in  the 
diary  of  1863  refer  to  the  subject:  Under  August  15, 
"Am  going  to  Milwaukee;"  August  17,  "Morton*  is  go 
ing  to  M.  with  me;"  August  28,  "Sherwin  is  to  pay  me 
$700  per  year;"  October  5,  "Went  home  on  P.M.  train 
for  good;"  October  n,  "Start  for  Milwaukee  at  12 
o'clock  to-night." 

But  the  day  before  this  start  was  made  Henry  re 
turned  to  Northampton  upon  the  invitation  of  the  em 
ployes  of  the  paper  mill  to  accept  their  tender  of  a  dinner 
to  take  place  in  the  evening  of  October  10,  at  The  Prospect 
House,  upon  Mount  Holyoke.  The  dinner,  which  was  at 
tended  by  sixty-three  persons,  was  followed  by  dancing, 
singing  and  walking  upon  the  mountain  roads  until  the 
night  was  fully  consumed.  The  register  of  The  Prospect 
House  is  still  preserved  at  the  hotel  and  contains  Henry's 
autograph,  with  the  address  ''Milwaukee,  Wis." — evi 
dence  of  his  pride  in  the  new  life  opening  before  him. 

And  now  began  Henry's  sojourn  from  his  home — a 
home  which  he  did  not  see  again  for  eighteen  years.  His 
father  conveyed  him  and  his  mother  by  vehicle  to  North 

This  was  Josiah  L.  Morton,  a  Northampton  friend,  often  men 
tioned  in  the  diary.  He  left  for  Milwaukee  earlier  than  Henry  and 
was  for  a  time  his  fellow  clerk.  Eventually  Mr.  Morton  began 
business  for  himself  on  Spring  Street. 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  MILWAUKEE  17 

Adams,  where  the  train  was  taken  for  Troy,  New  York. 
At  Troy  a  farewell  visit  was  paid  to  his  sister,  Imogene, 
then  a  pupil  at  the  seminary  of  Mrs.  Emma  Willard.* 
He  then  visited  in  and  near  Salem,  New  York,  with  kins 
folk  of  his  mother  and  bade  her  farewell  on  Saturday, 
October  17.  His  diary  for  Tuesday,  October  20,  records, 
"Rode  all  night  and  got  to  Chicago  somewhat  behind, 
took  noon  train  for  Milwaukee,  got  there  at  9  p.m.,  took 
room  at  Newhall  House" — a  hotel  which  friends  in 
Northampton  had  recommended.  October  21  recites, 
"Began  for  Sherwin,  Nowell  &  Pratt.  Board  on  Jack 
son  Street." 

Milwaukee,  to  which  city  Mr.  Payne  made  his  bow  in 
the  fall  of  1863,  was  a  very  insignificant  municipality  in 
comparison  with  the  metropolis  to  which  his  lifeless  body 
was  returned  in  the  fall  of  1904.  It  was  a  city  of  about 
thirty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  having  nine  wards,  and 
with  Mr.  Edward  O'Neil  as  mayor.  No  buildings  of 
especial  size  or  ambition  lifted  themselves  skyward,  there 
were  no  public  water  works,  no  park  system  and  no  show 
avenues.  The  post-office — an  insignificant  structure — 
stood  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Wisconsin  and  Milwau 
kee  Streets,  Mr.  John  Lockwood  being  postmaster.  A 
street  car  company,  known  as  the  River  and  Lake  Shore 
City  Railway  Company,  with  Mr.  George  H.  Walker  as 
president,  had  a  single  track  on  East  Water  Street,  from 
Walker's  Point  bridge  to  Division  Street,t  and  a  branch 
to  Prospect  Street  by  way  of  Wisconsin,  Jefferson,  Biddle, 

*At  the  suggestion  of  Miss  Diana  S.  Bowen,  Miss  Payne  was 
attending  this  seminary  to  qualify  herself  as  a  teacher.  The  entire 
expense  of  her  transportation  and  tuition  was  met  by  her  brother 
Henry. 

Juneau  Avenue. 


18  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

Van  Buren  and  Division  Streets — the  rolling  stock,  three 
two-horse  vehicles  and  two  one-horse  vehicles.  What  is 
now  the  Public  Library,  with  its  ornate  building  on  Grand 
Avenue,  then  consisted  of  a  meager  collection  of  literature 
belonging  to  the  Young  Men's  Association,  housed  in 
rented  quarters  at  Number  91  Mason  Street.  The  ship 
ping  to  and  from  Milwaukee  was  then  meager ;  the  steam 
railway  service  was  feeble,  and  the  various  roads  uncon 
nected.  Indeed,  the  present  full-blown  rose  Milwaukee 
was,  in  1863,  just  beginning  to  bud. 

The  firm  with  which  Mr.  Payne  became  associated — 
for  now  that  he  has  approached  his  majority,  he  must  no 
longer  be  styled  Henry — was  composed  entirely  of  men 
then  new  in  Milwaukee.  Mr.  Sherwin  had  preceded  him 
from  Northampton  by  a  few  weeks  only;  Edward  F. 
Pratt  was  a  young  merchant,  recently  from  the  East,  who 
lived  at  first  at  the  hotels,  but  later,  upon  his  marriage, 
resided  upon  the  lake  front;  Winslow  A.  Nowell  had  ar 
rived  this  same  year  from  the  city  of  New  York,  a  youth 
seeking  his  fortune.*  The  firm  was  established  in  the 
business  of  selling  dry  goods  at  wholesale  and  retail  at 
Numbers  372  and  374  East  Water  Street,  a  store  on  the 
east  side  of  the  street  between  Wisconsin  and  Michigan 
Streets.  Among  the  competitors  of  this  new  partnership 
there  are  still  existing  in  Milwaukee  under  varying  change 
of  name,  T.  A.  Chapman  and  Company,  Goll  and  Frank, 
Kroeger  and  Brother  and  H.  Stern,  Junior  and  Brother. 

But  the  new  firm  as  first  constituted  was  of  short  dura- 


*Mr.  Nowell  also  made  Milwaukee  a  permanent  home.  He  was 
a  friend  and  political  associate  of  Mr.  Payne,  and  died  in  Milwaukee, 
aged  sixty-five  years,  April  26,  1905.  Mr.  Pratt  died  February  25, 
1886. 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  MILWAUKEE  19 

tion.  Indeed,  in  January,  1864,  a  dissolution  had  taken 
place,  the  senior  partner  had  removed  to  New  York, 
where  his  interests  were  now  located,  and  Mr.  Payne, 
with  a  power  of  attorney,  was  conducting  the  business  in 
the  same  store,  he  being  the  silent  partner  in  the  firm. 
The  new  business  continued  some  two  or  three  years  and 
then  came  to  an  end.  There  was  too  little  capital  for  suc 
cess  ;  Mr.  Payne,  whose  sole  resources  when  he  arrived  in 
Milwaukee  in  1863  were  fifty  dollars,  was  in  no  financial 
condition  to  bolster  up  a  business  in  which  competition 
was  eager  and  brisk. 

In  1868  the  firm  of  H.  C.  Payne  and  Company  was  in 
existence  at  the  same  numbers  on  East  Water  Street,  in 
the  same  general  line  of  trade.*  This  partnership  was 
also  of  short  duration,  and  the  business  passed  into  other 
hands.  In  1869  Mr.  Payne  opened  a  store  with  Mr. 
William  H.  Crombie  at  Number  385  East  Water  Street, 
also  for  the  sale  of  dry  goods.  But  it  was  not  intended 
that  Mr.  Payne  should  succeed  as  a  merchant.  The  new 
firm  existed  somewhat  more  than  a  year  and  in  1871  Mr. 
Payne  was  out  of  business — convenient  opportunity  for 
the  now  approaching  career  in  which  his  name  was  to 
shine  resplendent. 

Mr.  Payne's  early  domestic  life  in  Milwaukee  was 
migratory.  He  tells  us  in  his  diary,  of  date  next  after  his 
arrival,  that  he  went  to  "board  on  Jackson  Street."  Then 
we  read,  "Went  to  minstrels  in  eve  with  Morton  and  his 
uncle."  On  December  16,  1863,  he  notes,  "Went  to  Mrs. 
Saxes'  on  Main  Streetf  to  board — room  at  store."  In 

*Mr.  John  G.  Gregory,  now  of  the  Evening  Wisconsin,  Mil 
waukee,  who  worked  for  above  firm  in  1868,  states  that  Mr.  Payne 
invariably  "enlisted  the  loyalty  of  his  workmen." 

Street  became,  later,  Broadway. 


20  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

1865  Mr.  Payne  was  living  on  Prospect  Street  near 
Knapp  Street,  but  in  1868  he  enjoyed  hotel  life  at  the 
Newhall  House.  Thence  he  went  to  board  at  Number 
210  Biddle  Street,  and  was  dwelling  there  at  the  time  of 
his  marriage.  Thereupon  the  couple  kept  house  for  a 
brief  period  at  Number  114  Prospect  Street.*  From  1889 
until  their  removal  to  Washington,  they  resided  at  Num 
ber  586  Astor  Street. 

Some  five  years  after  Mr.  Payne's  arrival  in  Milwau 
kee,  there  visited  in  that  city  at  the  residence  of  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Charles  P.  Jones,  at  Number  570  Waverly  Place,  a 
young  lady  from  the  city  of  New  York,  Lydia  Wood  Van 
Dyke.f  Mr.  Payne  formed  her  acquaintance,  gained  her 
friendship,  sought  and  won  her  in  marriage — an  event 
which  occurred  in  Mount  Holly,  New  Jersey,  October  15, 
1869. 

Upon  the  privacy  of  the  home  thus  established  this 
book  seldom  intrudes.  Suffice  it  to  say  here,  that  not  long 
after  her  marriage  Mrs.  Payne  became  afflicted  with  rheu 
matic  gout,  resulting  in  chronic  invalidism  and  in  a  daily 
routine  almost  completely  sedentary.  Those  intimate 
with  Mr.  Payne  in  his  early  wedlock  delight  to  recall  the 
affectionate  care  with  which  he  waited  upon  his  wife, 
wheeling  her  in  her  chair  either  for  exercise  or  social 
visits,  and  otherwise  watching  over  the  fragile  existence 


*Prospect  Street  did  not  become  Prospect  Avenue  until  about 
1876. 

fShe  was  the  daughter  of  Richard  Van  Dyke,  Junior,  and  Mary 
Ware  Thomas,  both  of  the  city  of  New  York.  Mr.  Van  Dyke  com 
menced  his  early  business  life  as  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Bleeker  and 
Van  Dyke,  real  estate  auctioneers.  Mr.  Bleeker  was  much  older  than 
the  junior  partner.  The  latter  soon  withdrew  from  this  partnership  and 
formed  with  Mr.  Bleeker's  relative,  Theodore  Malaby,  the  real  estate 
firm  of  Van  Dyke  and  Malaby.  Still  later  Mr.  Van  Dyke  went  into 
other  business. 


EARLY  LIFE  IN  MILWAUKEE  21 

entrusted  to  his  love  with  unwearying  anxiety.  That  de 
votion  never  flagged  during  a  union  which,  although 
childless,  was  congenial  and  sympathetic.  The  career  of 
the  invalid  thus  tenderly  cared  for  outspanned  that  of  her 
husband.  This  wreath  is  placed  upon  his  tomb  by  the 
wish  of  his  wife,  in  loving  memory  of  him  who,  during 
his  early  manhood  and  in  his  advancing  age,  in  his  poverty 
and  in  his  affluence,  in  his  obscurity  and  in  his  renown, 
made  her  his  constant  and  affectionate  solicitude. 


22  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  IV 


OBarlg  (Elections 

Not  long  after  removing-  to  Milwaukee,  Mr.  Payne 
connected  himself  with  the  Young  Men's  Association  of 
that  city,  whose  collection  of  books  and  periodical  litera 
ture  and  whose  winter  lecture  courses  were  well  calculated 
to  avert  loneliness,  occupy  leisure  and  supplement  an  edu 
cation  all  too  limited.  Mr.  Payne  became  an  influential 
member  of  the  Association  and,  on  May  8,  1866,  was 
elected  a  trustee  in  one  of  those  mimic  skirmishes,  char 
acteristic  of  the  Young  Men's  Association,  which  had  all 
the  elements  of  excitement  and  vigor  peculiar  to  a  political 
contest.  Mr.  Alfred  L.  Cary  of  Milwaukee  has  written 
an  account  of  this  election  which  I  cannot  refrain  from 
transcribing : 

For  several  years  I  had  been  secretary  of  the  Association  and 
active  in  its  management,  and  became  ambitious  to  be  its  president. 
I  came  out  as  a  candidate  for  that  office  at  the  annual  election  in 
May,  1866.  As  there  were  to  be  two  tickets  in  the  field  and  a  lively 
contest,  I  sought  to  make  my  ticket  as  strong  as  possible,  and  with 
that  view  solicited  Mr.  Payne  to  be  a  candidate  for  one  of  the  trus 
tees.  He  readily  assented,  and  entered  into  the  contest  with  a  re 
markable  activity  and  zeal,  which  could  only  have  been  prompted 
and  guided  by  a  natural  love  and  aptitude  for  conflicts  of  that  char 
acter.  The  battle  was  a  royal  one,  and  when  its  smoke  had  cleared 
away  and  the  result  ascertained,  Mr.  Payne  was  found  to  be  the  only 
candidate  upon  our  ticket  who  had  been  elected.  It  was  his  per 
sonal  popularity  which  made  him  successful  at  this  time,  and  I  have 
often  thought  that  perhaps  this  little  experience  and  success  at  an 
election  of  the  Young  Men's  Association  was  the  initiative  of  that 


EARLY  ELECTIONS  23 


larger  experience  and  success  which  Mr.  Payne  afterwards  had  in 
the  city,  county,  state  and  national  campaigns,  and  which  made  him 
famous  as  a  political  manager. 

It  was  Mr.  Payne's  genial  companionship  which  endeared  him 
to  his  friends,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  which  they  would  forget  that 
he  was  one  of  cur  most  distinguished  citizens. 

Mr.  Payne  continued  to  support  the  Association  dur 
ing  the  presidencies  of  Loyal  R.  Durand  (Mr.  Gary's 
competitor),  John  Nazro,  Henry  H.  West,  James  G. 
Jenkins,  John  E.  Eldred,  Robert  Hill  and  Charles  L. 
Peirce.*  On  May  13,  1872,  Mr.  Payne  was  elected  the 
secretary  of  the  Association,  and  on  May  n,  1874,  he 
succeeded  Mr.  Peirce  as  the  president  and  served  for  one 
year.f  Thereafter  Mr.  Payne  was  never  a  candidate  for 
any  elective  office,  civil  or  political. 

But  Mr.  Payne's  mind  had  long  been  occupied  with 
contests  of  wider  scope  and  larger  import.  The  state 
elections  of  1863  were  of  intense  interest  throughout  the 
north.  These  elections  afforded  the  voters  their  first  op 
portunity  to  express  their  opinion  on  the  attitude  of  the 
party  in  power  in  continuing  the  enlistment  of  soldiers  for 
the  war  for  the  Union,  even  to  the  extreme  of  drafting 
them.  Mr.  Payne's  diary  for  1863  shows  his  interest  in 
this  subject,  even  though  he  had  not  then  reached  voting 
age:  November  3,  "Went  to  Union  headquarters  under 
Newhall  House;  great  rejoicing  over  result;"  November 
4;  "Republicans  carried  all  the  states;  made  a  clean 
sweep." 

*Of  these  young  men  two,  Judge  Jenkins  and  Mr.  Eldred,  sur 
vive  as  citizens  of  Milwaukee.  Mr.  Hill  died  July  3,  1906,  while  this 
chapter  was  in  writing. 

tSome  two  years  or  more  after  Mr.  Payne's  term  as  president 
expired,  the  Association,  which  had  existed  since  December  20,  1847, 
transferred  its  property  to  the  city  of  Milwaukee.  This  took  place 
March  8,  1878,  under  the  authority  of  Chapter  7,  Laws  of  1878,  ap 
proved  February  7,  1878.  The  present  public  library  of  the  city  is  the 
result  of  this  action. 


24  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Mr.  Payne,  although  an  ardent  Republican,  did  not 
become  actively  connected  with  his  party  organization  un 
til  the  year  1872.  At  that  time  a  great  wave  of  disaffec 
tion  had  spread  over  the  country,  affecting  very  many 
German  Republicans,  while  political  paralysis  had  seized 
the  Republican  leaders  in  Milwaukee.  It  was  the  year 
of  the  second  campaign  of  General  Grant  for  the  presi 
dency  of  the  United  States,  Horace  Greeley,  the  talented 
but  eccentric  editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  being  his 
opponent  for  the  high  office.  As  the  campaign  pro 
gressed  Mr.  Payne  became  restless  at  the  inactivity  which 
prevailed  in  his  home  city  and  he  invited  several  of  his 
friends  to  meet  at  his  office,  to  consult  if  it  were  not  the 
duty  of  the  young  men  to  work  together  systematically 
and  vigorously  to  save  the  Republican  party  in  Milwau 
kee  from  annihilation.  The  outgrowth  of  this  confer 
ence  was  the  formation  of  the  Young  Men's  Republican 
Club — an  organization  destined  to  become  of  great  politi 
cal  influence.  Mr.  DeWitt  Davis  presided  at  the  initial 
meeting  of  the  Club;  Mr.  Charles  L.  Peirce  was  the  first 
president,  Mr.  Payne  the  secretary,  Captain  Irving  M. 
Bean  the  chairman  of  the  executive  committee.  Other  of 
the  very  early  members  were  Mr.  Henry  Fink,  Mr.  Robert 
Hill,  Mr.  Louis  Sholes,  Mr.  Akerley  Townsend,.  Mr. 
Frederick  W.  Payne,  Mr.  Lemuel  Ellsworth,  Mr.  David 
Vance,  Mr.  Winslow  A.  Nowell  and  Mr.  John  M.  Ewing. 
The  objects  of  the  Club  were  to  dispel  the  lethargy  in  the 
ranks  of  the  party,  to  bring  out  the  full  Republican  vote 
in  the  election  then  imminent  and  to  spread  abroad  such 
documents  and  other  literature  as  should  constitute  an 
apostatizing  propaganda.  Milwaukee  was  not  then  a 
Republican  city — the  trend  of  sentiment  was  intensely 


EARLY  ELECTIONS  25 

Democratic.  To  overcome  this  sentiment,  to  convert  the 
individual  voters  by  the  leaven  of  argument  and  instruc 
tion  working  through  the  inert  or  opposing  mass — these 
results  the  Club  hoped  to  accomplish.  In  this  work  Mr. 
Payne  was  the  active,  ruling  spirit;  the  ceaseless,  untiring 
plodder. 

The  result  of  the  presidential  election  of  1872  in  Wis 
consin  was  in  favor  of  General  Grant,  by  a  majority  over 
Mr.  Greeley  of  18,515  votes — a  large  majority  in  those 
days  of  even  party  strength.  Along  with  this  success 
came  a  Republican  majority  in  the  legislature  of  Wiscon 
sin,  insuring  the  re-election  of  Mr.  Timothy  O.  Howe  to 
the  senate  of  the  United  States,  an  event  which  took  place 
January  21,  1873,  and  was  to  be  of  great  moment  to  Mr. 
Payne.  In  Milwaukee  county  the  result  of  the  fall  elec 
tion  of  1872  was  a  majority  against  General  Grant  of 
3,171  votes — a  number  showing  how  gigantic  was  Mr. 
Payne's  self-imposed  task  of  converting  Milwaukee  into 
a  Republican  county.  That  he  succeeded  fully  in  this 
task  before  he  laid  his  armor  off,  no  Democrat  will  deny. 

The  activities  of  the  Club  during  the  campaign  of 
1872  had  been  so  promising  that  Mr.  Matthew  H.  Car 
penter,  who  was  then  serving  his  first  term  in  the  senate 
of  the  United  States,  insisted  that  the  organization,  in 
stead  of  disbanding  as  had  been  contemplated,  should 
become  permanent.  Moreover,  he  declared  his  purpose  to 
strengthen  it  in  every  way  within  his  power  and  as  a  token 
of  his  good  will  he  in  November,  1872,  tendered  to  Mr. 
Payne,  then  twenty-nine  years  of  age,  the  position  of 
postmaster  of  Milwaukee. 

Early  in  1872  Mr.  Payne  had  established  himself  as  an 
insurance  agent  at  Number  17  Newhall  House  block, 


26  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

where  he  was  connected  more  or  less  intimately  with  Mr. 
Benjamin  M.  Weil*  and  where  both  gathered  around 
them  a  profitable  clientele.  Therefore  Mr.  Payne,  although 
flattered  by  the  offer  of  an  influential  federal  position, 
had  the  courage  to  decline  it  and  to  continue  his  occupa 
tion.  This  occupation  he  continued  at  the  same  place 
until,  early  in  1876,  the  offer  of  the  post  office  was  again 
made  to  him  and  accepted. 

This  renewal  offer  grew  out  of  the  bitterness  which 
had  been  engendered  in  the  Republican  ranks  during  the 
contest  in  the  legislature  of  1875  over  the  election  of  a 
successor  to  Mr.  Carpenter  in  the  Senate.  The  defeat  of 
Mr.  Carpenter  as  his  own  successor,  which  occurred,  was 
very  disheartening  to  his  friends  in  Milwaukee  who  con 
stituted  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  Republicans  there.  Mr. 
Angus  Cameron  having  been  elected  February  3,  1875, 
Senator  Howe  tendered  unsolicited  the  Milwaukee  post 
office  to  Mr.  Payne  as  one  of  Mr.  Carpenter's  most  zeal 
ous,  active  and  trusted  friends.  Concerning  Senator 
Howe's  offer  Mr.  Payne  himself  stated  later,  "If  I  did  not 
take  it,  it  would  go  to  some  one  who  had  been  identified 
with  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Carpenter.  Believing  that 
such  a  result  would  prove  a  most  disastrous  calamity  to 
the  party  organization  in  Milwaukee  I  somewhat  reluc 
tantly  consented  to  take  the  place.  This  is  how  I  came 
to  be  postmaster." 

He  was  then  a  little  more  than  thirty-two  years  of  age. 

*Mr.  Weil  died  in  Milwaukee,  October  24,  1901,  aged  fifty-one 
years. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  POST  OFFICE  27 


CHAPTER  V 


o^iltoaubee  post  SDfffce 

Mr.  Payne  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Milwaukee 
as  successor  to  Mr.  Samuel  C.  West,  on  the  fourth  day 
of  February,  1876,  his  commission  bearing  the  signatures 
of  President  Grant  and  of  Mr.  Marshall  Jewell,  post 
master-general.  Upon  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  four 
years  there  was  an  attempt  made  by  some  political  en 
emies  to  discredit  him  and  to  cast  odium  upon  his  man 
agement  of  the  office.  However,  his  reappointment  was 
asked  by  the  most  influential  business  men  of  both  parties, 
headed  by  Mr.  Alexander  Mitchell.  Moreover,  his  record 
at  the  office  of  the  postmaster-general  in  Washington  was 
of  the  highest.  He  was  recommissioned  for  four  years 
on  the  twenty-ninth  day  of  January,  1880,  his  commission 
being  authenticated  by  President  Hayes  and  by  Mr.  David 
M.  Key,  postmaster-general.  He  was  confirmed  by  the 
Senate  without  opposition.  On  the  fifth  day  of  Febru 
ary,  1884,  he  was  reappointed  for  a  term  of  four  years, 
his  commission  being  signed  by  President  Arthur  and  by 
Mr.  Walter  Q.  Gresham,  postmaster-general.  But  these 
four  years  of  service  were  not  permitted  to  elapse.  A 
notice,  dated  May  31,  1885,  from  President  Cleveland 
suspended  Mr.  Payne  from  office  "in  accordance  with  the 
terms  of  the  1 768th  section  of  the  Revised  Statutes  of 
the  United  States" — a  section  clothing  the  president  with 


28  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

such  suspensory  power  during  the  interim  of  Congress. 
The  cause  of  Mr.  Payne's  removal  was,  of  course,  his 
"pernicious  activity"  as  a  "politician." 

His  successor  in  the  post  office  was  Mr.  George  H. 
Paul. 

When  Mr.  Payne,  in  February,  1876,  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  office,  its  entire  business  was  accommo 
dated  on  the  main  floor  of  the  Government  building, 
which  then  stood  on  the  northwest  corner  of  Wisconsin 
and  Milwaukee  Streets,  the  site  of  the  present  Wells 
Building.  Before  his  service  closed,  the  office  occupied 
in  addition  the  entire  basement  and  a  portion  of  the  sec 
ond  story  as  well.  Besides  this,  to  keep  pace  with  the 
growing  needs  of  the  city,  Mr.  Payne  caused  five  sub 
stations  to  be  provided,  two  of  them  fully  equipped  post 
offices,  doing  a  large  business,  and  he  was  providing  for 
two  other  sub-stations  when  his  decapitation  occurred. 
The  revenue  of  the  Milwaukee  post  office  for  the  year 
1875  was  $136,450;  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1883, 
it  was  $257,115  and  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1884,  it 
was  $244,941 — a  decrease  due  to  reduction  in  rates  of 
postage.  In  1876  twenty-six  letter  carriers  \vere  em 
ployed;  in  1884  there  were  forty-four.  In  1876  the  busi 
ness  portion  of  the  city  together  with  a  limited  portion  of 
the  residence  district  had  mail  delivered  but  twice  daily, 
while  large  sections  of  the  outskirts  were  entirely  with 
out  the  service  of  the  carriers.  In  1885  the  business  dis 
tricts  were  served  four  and  five  times  daily  and  an  extra 
delivery  made  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evenings  to  the  hotels 
and  newspaper  offices,  while  there  was  no  part  of  the  city 
so  remote  as  not  to  be  reached  by  the  carriers,  and  the 
more  thickly  settled  districts  received  mail  three  times 


THE  MILWAUKEE  POST  OFFICE  29 

daily.  Under  Mr.  Payne  the  post  office  was  kept  open 
for  the  delivery  of  mail  and  for  the  sale  of  stamps  until 
nine  o'clock  at  night  and  for  money-order  business  until 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  arrangement  was  made 
with  the  local  banks  to  receive  money-orders  and  postal 
notes  on  deposit.  The  money-order  department  increased 
from  67,857  transactions  involving  $2,490,064  in  1876  to 
162,191  transactions  involving  $5,084,559  in  1884.  The 
registry  department  increased  from  the  handling  of  45,- 
204  pieces  in  1876  to  the  handling  of  266,993  pieces  in 
1884. 

The  presentation  of  these  dry  statistics  must  not  be 
thought  aimless.  These  details  and  figures  are  useful  if 
they  show  that  a  man  bearing  the  opprobrious  name  of 
"politician"  may  still  be  able  to  attend  to  an  important 
government  position  intelligently  and  conscientiously  and 
adapt  the  business  of  that  position  to  the  ever  increasing 
needs  of  a  thriving,  growing  community.* 

On  May  30,  1885,  the  evening  before  his  retirement 
from  the  post  office,  an  address  was  presented  to  Mr. 
Payne  by  the  one  hundred  and  six  employes  of  the  post 
office.  This  address  was  prepared  by  a  committee  of  their 
number — Mr.  Daniel  W.  Fowler,  assistant  postmaster, 
Mr.  George  A.  McGarigle,  superintendent  of  city  delivery, 
and  Mr.  Jerome  B.  Johnson,*  superintendent  of  mails — 
and  was  read  to  Mr.  Payne  by  Mr.  Fowler  in  the  presence 
of  the  entire  clerical  and  carrier  force  of  the  office.  As 


*For  the  early  history  and  growth  of  the  Milwaukee  post  office 
consult  an  article  in  the  Evening  Wisconsin,  Milwaukee,  October  22 
1879- 

*These  three  gentlemen  are  still  living  and  Messrs.  Fowler  and 
Johnson  are  still  in  service  at  the  Milwaukee  post  office. 


30  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

this  address  discloses  the  sentiments  with  which  Mr. 
Payne  had  inspired  his  subordinates  during  the  nine  years 
of  his  regime,  it  is  here  preserved : 

MR.  HENRY  C.  PAYNE  : 

The  assistants  and  employes  of  the  Milwaukee  post  office,  who 
have  been  associated  with  you  while  you  have  held  the  office  of 
postmaster,  for  a  part  or  all  of  your  term  of  public  service,  cannot 
permit  the  occasion  to  pass  without  some  expression  of  their  appre 
ciation  of  the  kindness  and  courtesy  which  they  have  uniformly  re 
ceived  at  your  hands. 

They  had  desired  to  unite  in  the  presentation  of  a  suitable 
memento,  which  might  be  retained  in  after  years  in  evidence  of  their 
unfeigned  regard  and  esteem,  but  being  advised  that  your  wishes 
would  be  best  consulted  by  the  abandonment  of  this  purpose,  they 
are  left  only  the  alternative  of  joining  in  a  communication,  which 
you  are  asked  to  receive — as  you  doubtless  will — in  the  same  kindly 
spirit  that  dictates  it.  Such  a  communication  may  seem  to  those  who 
do  not  appreciate  the  sentiment  that  prompts  it,  an  empty  and  un 
meaning  formaity,  but  you  will  not  so  regard  it.  The  relations 
which  have  so  long  existed  between  us,  the  interest  which  you  have 
always  taken  in  each  and  all  of  your  subordinates,  and  the  encourage 
ment  and  aid  which  you  have  given  us  in  the  endeavor  to  render  the 
Milwaukee  post  office  an  efficient  and  acceptable  agent  of  the  people 
of  the  city,  will  enable  you  to  understand  the  feeling  which  seeks 
expression  in  these  lines. 

It  is  proper  for  us  to  certify  to  the  many  improvements  made 
by  you  in  every  branch  of  the  service,  in  the  additional  conveniences 
given  to  the  public,  in  the  extension  of  the  postal  facilities  to  all 
parts  of  the  city,  in  the  more  frequent  delivery  of  the  mails,  and  in 
every  way  keeping  the  service  up  to  the  highest  standard,  not  only 
in  its  relations  to  the  public,  but  in  the  improved  methods  of  doing 
business  inside  the  office.  And  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  your 
administration  has  merited  the  warmest  commendation  of  the  Post 
Office  Department,  and  received  the  approval  of  the  business  com 
munity  and  the  public  in  general. 

The  severing  of  such  relations,  personal  and  official,  after  so 
long  a  term  of  service,  occasions  us  unfeigned  sorrow,  and  we  part 
with  you  with  the  cordial  wish  for  your  future  happiness  and  pros 
perity. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  say  more,  but  you  are  at  liberty  to  read 
between  the  lines  a  warmth  of  kindly  sentiment  and  affection  which 
formal  phrases  but  inadequately  express. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  POST  OFFICE  31 

To  these  kindly  expressions  the  retiring-  postmaster  re 
plied  at  great  length,  reviewing  his  administration,  notic 
ing  the  growth  of  the  office  and  of  its  business  since  1876 
and  declaring  that  the  loyalty  and  fidelity  of  the  employes 
in  the  office  materially  assisted  in  the  success  which  had 
been  achieved.  Mr.  Payne's  reply  closed  with  this  lan 
guage  : 

in  parting  with  you,  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  say  that  I  do 
so  with  regret.  Associations  lasting  during  a  period  of  ten  years, 
uniformly  pleasant  as  ours  have  been,  cannot  be  severed  without  a 
pang;  and  yet  my  chief  sorrow  comes  from  the  knowledge  that  my 
retirement  may  mean  to  many  of  you  loss  of  place  after  many  years 
of  faithful,  efficient  service — a  service  which  in  a  measure  unfits  you 
for  other  avocations. 

The  operations  of  the  civil  service  law  should  protect  many  of 
you ;  and  I  trust  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  tenure  of 
clerks  and  subordinate  employes  of  the  government  may  be  entirely 
freed  from  the  domain  of  party  strife,  and  their  places  be  absolutely 
secure  so  long  as  they  render  satisfactory  service. 

For  my  successor  I  entertain  the  kindliest  feelings  and  the  high 
est  respect.  He  enters  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office 
under  peculiar  and  trying  circumstances.  I  bespeak  for  him  the  same 
generous  support  which  you  have  accorded  me.  It  is  due  you  all  to 
say  that  never  during  my  ten  years'  service  have  I  been  deprived  of  a 
single  hour's  sleep  or  passed  an  anxious  day  on  account  of  fears  that 
any  of  you  were  betraying  my  confidence.  If  my  successor  can  say 
as  much  at  the  close  of  his  official  term  he  may  indeed  esteem  himself 
a  fortunate  man. 

In  retiring  to  private  life  I  carry  with  me  nothing  but  the  pleas- 
antest  memories  of  our  long  association ;  and  I  tender  you  my  most 
heartfelt  thanks  for  the  many  kindly  expressions,  not  only  contained 
in  your  communication,  but  manifested  to  me  personally,  always. 

A  few  paragraphs  in  these  closing  words  require 
special  comment.  Reference  is  made  to  his  remarks  as 
above  quoted,  upon  tenure  of  office  during  good  behavior. 
Mr.  Payne  is  usually  pointed  to  as  the  chief  exponent  of 
the  "spoils"  system,  the  champion  believer  in  removal 
from  office  in  order  to  reward  party  service.  And  there 
is  foundation  for  the  opinion  that  during  his  early  in- 


32  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

cumbency  of  the  post  office  he  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
principles  of  the  civil  service  law  as  later  enacted.  He 
was  then  a  strong  party  man.  In  reply  to  some  public 
criticism  upon  a  removal  he  had  made,  he  printed  a  card 
not  long  after  his  appointment  in  which  he  stated,  "I  pre 
fer  giving  employment  to  Republicans,  other  things  being 
equal,"  "As  long  as  I  am  postmaster,  I  shall  employ  only 
Republicans  if  I  can  find  those  that  are  competent." 

Bold  and  strong  as  is  this  language,  it  is  well  to  be 
lieve  that  a  wise  man  changes  his  views  if  he  finds  them 
wrong.  Certain  it  is  that  Mr.  Payne's  later  history  would 
justify  the  opinion  that  he  had  at  least  modified  these 
views.  On  January  16,  1883,  Congress  passed  the  first 
law  for  the  regulation  of  the  civil  service.* 

For  almost  seven  years  therefore  there  had  been  no 
check  upon  Postmaster  Payne's  control  of  his  employes, 
to  discharge  them  at  will.  Of  the  twenty-two  clerks  in 
the  office  at  the  time  Mr.  Payne  took  possession  in  Feb 
ruary,  1876,  ten  were  still  employed  when  he  was  re 
moved.  Of  the  twenty-six  letter  carriers  who  were  em 
ployed  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Payne's  appointment,  fourteen 
served  during  his  entire  term.  Of  the  ninety- four  per 
sons,  excluding  messengers,  who  were  employed  in  the 
post  office  when  Mr.  Payne  was  removed  in  the  spring  of 
1885,  twenty- four,  as  just  stated  wrere  so  employed  when 
he  was  appointed  in  February,  1876;  twenty-nine  were 
appointed  under  civil  service  rules;  five  only  were  new 
appointments  made  in  1876;  three  in  1877,  five  in  1878, 
four  in  1879  and  one  in  1880  when  his  term  was  half  over. 
Nor  can  these  dry  figures  be  considered  pointless  if 

*22  Statutes  at  Large  403. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  POST  OFFICE  33 

they  tend  to  prove  that  the  new  "politician"  postmaster 
made  no  wholesale  overthrow  of  the  office  employes,  but 
that  on  the  contrary  he  accepted  and  retained  the  force  as 
he  received  it,  that  he  made  new  appointments  from  time 
to  time  only  as  necessity  or  increase  of  business  required 
and  that  the  civil  service  rules  were  acted  upon  unques 
tioned  as  the  governing  rules  of  the  post  office. 

But  it  may  be  claimed  that  Mr.  Payne  made  few  re 
movals  because  he  inherited  from  his  predecessor  Repub 
lican  employes  only,  that  he  received  the  civil  service  act 
upon  compulsion  and  that  he  enforced  its  mandates  grudg 
ingly.  A  partial  answer  to  such  a  claim  is  that  the  civil 
service  act  as  passed  January  16,  1883,  was  not  obliga 
tory  upon  the  Milwaukee  post  office  which  did  not  then 
employ  fifty  clerks.  Application  by  the  postmaster  was 
necessary  in  order  to  make  the  act  applicable.  Sixteen 
days  after  its  passage  Mr.  Payne  wrote  the  following  let 
ter  to  the  postmaster-general,  Mr.  Timothy  O.  Howe : 

MILWAUKEE,  January  31. 
SIR: 

I  have  this  day  forwarded  to  the  first  assistant  postmaster- 
general  a  roster  of  the  clerks  employed  at  this  office.  If  not  incon 
sistent  with  your  views  I  would  respectfully  ask  that  this  office  be 
placed  under  the  provisions  of  the  civil  service  bill. 

Yours  truly, 

H.  C.  PAYNE,  P.  M. 

Equally  significant  with  this  act  on  his  part  is  the  fol 
lowing:  During  the  spring  of  1885  and  while  the  sword 
of  removal  was  threatening  his  head,  his  potential  influ 
ence  and  assistance  were  employed  in  securing  the  intro 
duction  of  civil  service  rules  into  two  important  depart 
ments  of  the  government  of  the  city  of  Milwaukee. 

In  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin  in  1885  a  bill  had  been 


34  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

pending  for  the  establishment  of  a  board  of  fire  and  police 
commissioners  for  Milwaukee.  Such  a  bill  was  an  in 
novation  in  Wisconsin  and  its  passage  was  not  at  all 
relished  by  that  large  body  of  citizens  who  coveted  jobs 
as  firemen  and  policemen.  The  measure,  although  it  had 
for  its  sponsors  such  citizens  as  Mr.  Jerome  R.  Brigham 
and  Mr.  Frederick  C.  Winkler,  stood  little  chance  of 
stemming  the  tide  of  prejudice  until  Mr.  Payne  who  had 
had  two  years'  experience  with  the  federal  law  and  who 
knew  its  value  both  in  the  betterment  to  the  service  and 
in  the  freedom  from  importunity  which  resulted  from  it, 
readily  gave  his  time  and  influence  to  its  support.  The 
result  was,  through  his  argument  and  persuasion,  the  en 
actment  of  the  bill  into  law.*  Although  repeated  efforts 
have  been  made  to  amend  it  into  weakness  all  these 
attempts  have  failed.  The  present  admirable  efficiency 
of  both  these  departments  is  directly  ascribable  to  the 
benevolent  features  of  this  law,  whose  passage  was  due  to 
the  influence  of  one  claimed  not  to  be  a  believer  in  its 
fundamental  principles. 

That  Mr.  Payne  consistently  and  intelligently  sup 
ported  and  upheld  the  Civil  Service  Law  when  he  reached 
Washington,  the  busiest  theatre  of  its  operations,  will 
amply  appear  ere  this  biography  closes. 

*It  was  approved  by  the  governor  April  n,  1885,  and  is  known 
as  Chapter  378  of  the  Laws  of  1885. 


THE  MILWAUKEE  CLUB  DINNER  35 


CHAPTER  VI 


Cf)e  Qpiltoaubee  Cluft  Dinner 

About  a  fortnight  after  Mr.  Payne's  retirement  from 
the  post  office,  on  June  16,  1885,  a  complimentary  dinner 
to  him  and  to  Captain  Irving  M.  Bean*  took  place  at  the 
Milwaukee  Club,  The  invitation,  dated  May  28,  1885, 
proceeded  from  Mr.  Richard  Guenther,  of  Oshkosh,  who 
then  represented  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  District  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  the  compliment  so  far  as 
Mr.  Payne  was  concerned  was  in  recognition  of  the  ex 
cellent  record  he  had  made  as  a  public  official  and  the 
valuable  services  he  had  rendered  to  the  Republican  party 
for  many  years.  The  dinner  was  largely  attended,  the 
company  including  Senator  Philetus  Sawyer,  all  the  Re 
publican  congressmen  of  Wisconsin  except  one,  and  other 
prominent  members  of  the  party  scattered  about  the  state. 

Mr.  Edward  Sanderson  acted  as  the  toastmaster.  The 
response  by  Mr.  Payne  to  Mr.  Sanderson's  introduction 
reviewed  his  own  relations  with  the  Republican  party 
from  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  Young  Men's 
Republican  Club  in  1872,  and  gave  a  history  of  its  triumph. 


*Captain  Bean  had  been  Collector  of  internal  revenue  for  the 
Milwaukee  district  and  had  also  been  removed  by  President  Cleve 
land.  He  is  mentioned  by  Senator  John  C.  Spooner  as  "the  scholarly, 
refined  gentleman,  of  many  accomplishments,  purity  of  character,  and 
exceptionally  bright  record  as  a  public  servant."  His  tender  tribute 
to  the  memory  of  his  friend  Henry,  which  now  lies  before  me,  dis 
closes  the  warmth  of  the  sympathy  between  these  two  longtime 
friends.  Captain  Bean  is  still  living  in  Milwaukee. 


36  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

He  mentioned  his  fellow  warriors  in  the  different  political 
contests — those  who  had  died,  those  who  had  retired  from 
warfare,  those  who  were  still  wearing  their  armor.  His 
words  of  advice  at  the  close  of  his  address  emphasize 
what  was  his  idea  of  a  political  combat — to  bombard  the 
enemy's  voters  with  arguments  through  speakers  and 
documents — the  campaign  of  individual  education.  These 
were  his  words : 

It  has  seemed  to  me  at  times  that  we  did  not  adopt  the  wisest 
and  best  methods  in  the  conduct  of  our  political  campaigns.  We 
wait  until  the  last  moment  and  then  rush  into  the  contest  unprepared, 
employing  crude,  and  oftentimes  the  least  effective  material  to  ac 
complish  the  desired  results,  relying  upon  arguments  and  literature 
ill  adapted  to  the  purpose.  How  much  better  it  would  be  to  present 
our  arguments  to  the  people  continuously  and  systematically  when 
the  heat  of  the  campaign  is  not  on  them,  at  which  time  they  believe 
little  if  anything  of  what  they  hear  or  read,  but  are  governed  by 
prejudice  and  passion. 

Steps  should  be  taken  now  to  lay  the  ground-work,  not  only  of 
the  campaign  of  1886,  but  of  the  great  struggle  of  1888. 

In  severing  my  official  relations,  my  chief  regret  has  been  that 
it  terminates  my  associations  so  long  and  pleasantly  maintained  with 
my  official  colleagues.  We  have  ever  dwelt  in  harmony,  and  I  shall 
ever  cherish  the  years  in  which  we  have  dwelt  together  in  the  official 
household,  as  the  pleasantest  of  my  life.  And  to  you,  my  political 
associates,  what  shall  I  say?  I  have  sometimes  felt  that  the  posi 
tion  which  I  have  held  in  the  party  has  been  a  most  thankless  one ; 
but  your  presence  here  to-night,  and  the  many  kind  and  flattering 
words  spoken,  tell  me  it  is  not  so.  Our  party  leaders  throughout 
the  state  in  every  town  and  village  are  among  the  brightest  and  best 
of  our  citizens.  I  desire  to  thank  them,  for  myself,  and  for  the  State 
Central  Committee,  for  the  uniform  promptness,  zeal  and  intelligence 
with  which  they  have  always  responded  to  the  suggestions  and  re 
quests  of  the  Committee.  And  whether  in  the  future  I  shall  remain 
with  you,  or  the  necessities  of  business  shall  take  me  from  amongst 
you,  I  shall  ever  cherish  the  kindest  and  most  grateful  memories  of 
our  ten  years  of  service  in  the  interest  of  the  Republican  party  of 
the  State  of  Wisconsin. 

Invited  persons  who  were  unable  to  attend  the  dinner 
sent  letters  in  acknowledgment  of  the  official  and  political 


THE  MILWAUKEE  CLUB  DINNER  37 

services  rendered  by  Mr.  Payne  and  Captain  Bean,  min 
gled  with  strong  expressions  of  criticism  and  disapproval 
of  the  executive  act  which  deprived  the  public  service  of 
qualifications  like  theirs.  Letters  were  read  from,  among 
others,  Governor  Jeremiah  M.  Rusk,  Mr.  Angus  Cameron, 
Mr.  James  H.  Howe,  Mr.  Horace  A.  Taylor  and  Senator 
John  C.  Spooner.  Two  sentences  in  the  letter  of  the  last 
writer  deserve  quotation,  as  summing  up  the  political  side 
of  Mr.  Payne's  character  and  especially  as  showing  how 
he  was  regarded  by  his  political  opponents : 

Payne  is  a  born  leader  of  men,  possessed  of  superb  ability  as  an 
organizer,  of  tireless  energy,  unwavering  in  his  devotion  to  the  prin 
ciples  of  his  party,  unselfish  and  self-sacrificing  in  the  personal  serv 
ices  he  yields  to  the  cause  in  which  he  believes.  He  deserves  the 
gratitude  of  every  Republican,  as  he  has  won  the  respect  of  every 
Democrat  who  likes  a  fair  fight,  and  admires  an  opponent  who  deals 
hard  blows,  and  takes  them  in  return  like  a  man. 

The  closing  portion  of  this  quotation  furnishes  an 
apology  for  presenting  extracts  from  three  letters  written 
by  political  opponents  of  Mr.  Payne  and  which  confirm 
Senator  Spooner's  opinion  that  the  Democrats  liked  him. 
The  following  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Edward  C.  Wall, 
of  Milwaukee : 

Air.  Payne  and  I  differed  radically  in  politics.  Several  times 
we  were  actively  identified  in  the  management  of  campaigns  on  op 
posite  sides,  striving  with  all  the  energy  and  ability  each  of  us  pos 
sessed  to  defeat  each  other.  This,  however,  did  not  disturb  our 
friendship,  neither  did  the  fact  that  some  suspicious  adherents  of 
our  respective  parties  misconstrued  this  and  criticised  it  unkindly 
make  the  slightest  difference  in  our  intercourse  or  social  relation. 
The  fact  is  that  Mr.  Payne  and  I  never  discussed  politics  except  as 
gentlemen  do  in  a  general  way  among  themselves  where  they  differ. 

While  Mr.  Payne  was  a  hard  fighter  and  a  hard  hitter,  as  well 
as  a  most  resourceful  leader  politically,  he  was  at  the  same  time 
generous  to  his  political  opponent. 


38  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Sir  Thomas  G.  Shaughnessy,  now  of  Montreal,  Can 
ada,  thus  records  his  impressions  of  Mr.  Payne  as  a  pub 
lic  man: 

Excepting  on  one  occasion,  when  I  was  a  supporter  of  Matt.  H. 
Carpenter  for  the  United  States  Senate,  Mr.  Payne  and  I  were  never 
in  accord  politically  in  the  early  days.  He  was  a  Republican  leader 
— indeed,  to  my  mind,  the  leader  not  only  in  the  Milwaukee  district, 
but  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  while  I  was  an  humble  member  of 
the  Democratic  party. 

Shrewd,  capable,  reserved  and  an  excellent  judge  of  men,  Mr. 
Payne  was  the  ideal  man  for  political  management.  One  of  his 
most  striking  characteristics,  however,  was  his  unselfishness.  He 
played  the  game  for  the  party  and  its  candidates  without  apparently 
making  any  effort  for  his  own  preferment.  I  cannot  recollect  that 
in  my  day  he  was  ever  a  candidate  for  an  elective  office.  True  he 
held  the  position  of  postmaster  for  a  time,  but  in  those  days  politics 
permeated  the  public  departments,  and  in  that  position  he  had  oppor 
tunity  to  keep  in  touch  with  political  affairs  not  only  in  his  own 
district,  but  throughout  a  considerable  portion  of  the  Northwest. 
His  efficiency  as  a  member  of  the  Republican  National  Committee 
was  recognized  and  appreciated  by  such  men  as  the  late  Senator 
Hanna,  whom  I  knew  intimately  and  who  frequently  spoke  in  terms 
of  admiration  and  affection  of  his  colleague  from  Wisconsin  on  the 
committee. 

When  I  knew  him  best  I  had  implicit  confidence  in  Mr.  Payne's 
unimpeachable  honesty,  and  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  every 
word  that  reached  me  from  any  quarter  tended  to  confirm  that  con 
viction.  His  friends  knew  him  as  a  loyal  and  devoted  friend ;  his 
foes,  and  they  were  only  political,  recognized  his  genius  for  party 
organization  and  strategy.  Henry  C.  Payne  was  indeed  a  citizen 
who  brought  credit  and  honour  to  his  state,  and  whose  memory  will 
be  cherished  for  generations  to  come. 

Mr.  William  F.  Vilas,  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  Mr. 
Payne's  predecessor  as  postmaster-general,  in  the  cabinet 
of  President  Cleveland,  writes  at  length,  and  because  ex- 
Senator  Vilas  as  a  lifelong  Democrat  knew  and  appre 
ciated  a  worthy  opponent,  I  draw  quite  extensively  from 
his  recollections  of  Mr.  Payne: 

He  seemingly  possessed  a  natural  liking,  as  well  as  marked 
natural  aptitude,  for  the  management  of  contests  in  the  political 


THE  MILWAUKEE  CLUB  DINNER  39 


arena — the  enjoyment,  doubtless,  of  the  exercise  of  conscious  power. 
I  never  knew  whether  it  was  this  native  tendency,  or  devotion  to 
personal  friends,  which  first  turned  him  to  that  field  of  effort.  Cer 
tainly,  one  could  hardly  manifest  less  of  personal  ambition  or  self- 
seeking,  although  his  labors,  cares  and  performances  ranged  over 
long  years  and  trying  controversies,  while,  as  chairman  of  the  State 
Central  Committee  and  state  representative  in  the  National  Com 
mittee,  his  masterful  hand  was  upon  the  helm  of  his  party,  dom- 
inantly  in  the  state  and  finally  almost  so  in  the  nation.  It  was,  in 
deed,  but  the  mortal  stroke  which  unloosed  that  grasp. 

Probably,  no  man  anywhere  ever  essayed  political  or  public  serv 
ice  without  misconception  by  opponents,  and,  not  uncommonly,  by 
many  even  in  party  accord.  The  measure  of  success  is  also  generally 
the  gauge  of  feeling  in  antagonism  and  misjudgment.  If  Mr.  Payne 
encountered  it,  he  not  only  shared  the  common  fate  of  public  labor, 
but  found  in  it  the  mark  of  achievement.  Assuredly  he  won  from 
those  over  whom  he  secured  so  many  triumphs,  the  acknowledgment 
due  his  high  ability,  keen  insight,  steadfastness  of  purpose,  with 
genuine,  and  for  the  most  part  also  generous,  cordiality;  and  in  the 
constancy  of  his  friends  not  less  than  the  distinction  of  exalted  office 
lies  undeniable  testimony  of  the  eminence  he  attained  in  the  estima 
tion  of  his  fellow  men. 

This  affords  no  fitting  opportunity  to  speak  of  his  official  labors, 
were  I  so  acquainted  with  their  circumstances  as  to  warrant  it. 
The  recall  of  him  to  which  my  memory  clings  with  affectionate 
fondness,  turns  especially  to  the  charms  of  his  personal  intercourse. 
His  gifts  from  Nature,  bettered  by  culture,  in  sunny  temperament, 
kindly  disposition,  frank,  open,  manly  ways,  gentle  courtesies  of 
manner,  rendered  him  ever  a  delight  to  the  companions  he  accepted. 
It  was  like  a  sunburst  through  a  cloudy  sky  to  happen  upon  his 
welcoming  cheer  at  meeting  a  friend ;  while  his  animation,  humor, 
bright  wit  and  ready  mind,  infused  by  kindness  of  heart,  gave  every 
succeeding  moment  of  communion  fresh  enjoyment.  One  never 
failed  to  receive  responsive  appreciation  and  with  it,  keenly  discrim 
inative  judgment,  of  a  fact  stated  or  a  proposition  advanced,  whether 
in  pleasantry  or  serious  affairs.  Nor  ever  was  wanting  that  essential 
of  good  fellowship,  confidence  in  his  truth  and  integrity,  the  ease  of 
an  absolute  security  in  his  fidelity  to  all  the  obligations  of  honor 
in  every  personal  relation. 


40  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  VII 


a  JSepii&lican  Coimtp" 

To  explain  the  frequent  references  to  Mr.  Payne's 
political  achievements  it  is  necessary  to  return  again  to 
the  Young  Men's  Republican  Club.  As  has  been  stated 
this  organization  was  not  permitted  to  disintegrate  in 
1872.  Its  existence  under  the  name  of  the  Central  Re 
publican  Club  was  perpetuated,  with  the  resolution  of 
making  Milwaukee  county  and  city  Republican  in  politics. 
It  was  unable  in  1874  to  accomplish  the  defeat  of  Mr. 
William  P.  Lynde,  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress 
from  the  Fourth  District,  although  his  vote  in  the  county 
was  reduced  to  a  majority  of  1,404  ballots  over  Mr.  Har 
rison  Ludington.  At  the  state  election  on  November  2, 
1875,  the  Republicans  made  herculean  efforts  to  carry  the 
state,  more  particularly  because  the  governorship  had 
fallen  without  good  reason  into  the  grasp  of  the  Demo 
crats  in  1872.  Governor  William  R.  Taylor  was  a  can 
didate  for  re-election  in  1875  and  against  him  the  Republi 
cans  nominated  Mr.  Harrison  Ludington,  three  times 
elected  mayor  of  the  Democratic  city  of  Milwaukee.  The 
contest  was  very  exciting  and  enlisted  all  the  ardor  and 
energy  of  Secretary  Payne.  When  the  ballots  had  been 
counted  it  wras  found  that  Mr.  Ludington  had  carried  the 
state  by  831  votes  over  Governor  Taylor,  but  that  the  re 
mainder  of  the  Democratic  ticket  had  been  elected.  The 
county  of  Milwaukee  which,  in  1873,  Governor  Taylor 


"MILWAUKEE  A  REPUBLICAN  COUNTY"  41 

carried  by  a  majority  of  6,379  ballots,  polled  him  a  ma 
jority  of  but  1,219  votes  in  1875 — a  loss  of  5,160  votes. 
If  was  a  brilliant  throng  that  attended  the  inauguration 
of  Governor  Ludington  in  January,  1876.  Mr.  Edward 
K.  West,*  in  a  notice  about  Mr.  Payne,  writes : 

I  was  one  of  a  merry  party  from  Milwaukee  who  attended  the 
inaugural  ball  at  the  time  of  the  election  of  Governor  Harrison 
Ludington.  Mr.  Payne  seemed  to  be  the  bright  particular  star  at 
that  time,  the  director  general  by  common  consent. 

The  Central  Republican  Club,  managed  by  its  rest 
less,  busy  secretary,  Mr.  Payne,  attacked  the  enemy  again 
in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1876,  rendered  ever 
memorable  by  the  contest  of  Governor  Rutherford  B. 
Hayes  against  Mr.  Samuel  J.  Tilden.  In  the  city  of 
Milwaukee  the  Democrats  made  loud  boasts — they  would 
carry  the  city  by  so  large  a  vote  that  the  Republicans  in 
the  remainder  of  the  state  could  not  overcome  the  ma 
jority.  Vain  bragging!  The  Democrats  carried  the  city 
by  a  meagre  majority  of  1,381  votes,  the  county  by  2,019 
votes  and  lost  the  state  by  somewhat  more  than  6,000 
votes.  Commenting  upon  this  situation  the  Milwaukee 
correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Times  wrote  to  his  paper: 

That  the  Democratic  majority  in  this  intensely  Democratic  city 
and  county  has  been  reduced  from  the  sublime  to  the  comparatively 
ridiculous  in  the  way  it  has  been  is  one  of  the  wonderful  feats  of 
the  day  and  Henry  C.  Payne  is  chief  conjuror. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  this  presidential  campaign  it 
was  deemed  wise  to  form  a  new  organization  of  the  Cen 
tral  Republican  Club  which  should  be  more  fairly  repre- 


*Mr.  West  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Payne's  predecessor  as  postmaster 
and  served  as  the  head  of  the  money-order  department  during  all 
the  administration  of  Mr.  Payne  and  a  portion  of  that  of  Mr.  Paul. 
Mr.  West's  summary  of  the  character  of  his  chief,  Mr.  Payne,  is 
most  interesting. 


42  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

sentative  than  the  Club  of  the  growing  Republican  party. 
At  its  annual  meeting  in  the  winter  of  1876-7  a  committee 
consisting  of  Mr.  Payne,  Mr.  Albert  B.  Geilfuss  and  Mr. 
John  H.  Manschot  was  appointed  to  report  a  new  perma 
nent  plan  of  organization.  This  committee  reported,  and 
the  Club  adopted,  a  plan  for  the  formation  of  the  Central 
Committee  of  the  Republican  party  of  the  city  and  county 
of  Milwaukee — a  lengthy  name  popularly  shortened  into 
the  Committee  of  One  Hundred.  Of  this  committee  Mr. 
William  E.  Smith  was  the  president  and  Mr.  Payne  the 
secretary.  The  object  of  the  committee  was  single — to 
conduct  the  Republican  campaigns  in  the  city  and  county 
of  Milwaukee.  Not  long  after  its  formation  Mr.  Ed 
ward  Sanderson  succeeded  Mr.  Smith  as  chairman  of  the 
committee,  owing  to  Mr.  Smith's  election  as  governor, 
and  Mr.  Payne  added  to  his  duties  those  of  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  State  Central  Committee. 

The  Committee  of  One  Hundred  tested  its  mettle  in  the 
gubernatorial  campaign  in  November,  1877,  the  con 
testants  being  Mr.  William  E.  Smith  and  Judge  James  A. 
Mallory — the  latter  the  Democratic  nominee.  Judge  Mai- 
lory  carried  the  city  by  222  votes,  the  county  by  545  votes 
and  lost  the  state  by  more  than  six  thousand  votes.  In 
the  spring  of  1878  Mr.  Casper  M.  Sanger,  Republican, 
lost  the  mayoralty  by  but  343  votes — the  political  change 
was  surely  coming! 

When  the  next  election  for  governor  occurred  in  the 
spring  of  1879,  Governor  Smith  was  a  candidate  for  re 
election,  his  Democratic  opponent  being  Mr.  James  G. 
Jenkins.  Governor  Smith  had  a  majority  in  the  state  of 
25,494  votes,  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee  of  2,152  votes, 
and  in  the  county  of  Milwaukee,  of  2,360  votes.  In  the 


"MILWAUKEE  A  REPUBLICAN  COUNTY"  43 

spring  of  1880  Mr.  Thomas  H.  Brown,  Republican,  was 
chosen  mayor  of  Milwaukee,  by  a  majority  of  3,388  votes. 
The  change  had  come ! 

It  was  no  unacceptable  reward  to  Mr.  Payne  for  his 
meritorious  party  services  that  he  was  a  delegate  to  the 
National  Republican  convention  which  sat  in  Chicago  in 
the  summer  of  1880.  In  this  convention  the  delegation 
from  "Wisconsin  did  the  decisive  work  that  nominated 
Mr.  James  A.  Garfield.  For  thirty-three  ballots  the  six 
teen  votes  of  the  Wisconsin  delegation  had  been  cast  for 
Mr.  James  G.  Elaine.  A  solitary  delegate  from  Penn 
sylvania  had  been  voting  consistently  for  Mr.  Garfield 
upon  every  ballot.  On  the  thirty-fourth  ballot  the  Wis 
consin  delegation,  largely  through  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Payne,  switched  its  sixteen  votes  to  Mr.  Garfield  and  his 
nomination  followed. 

Now  that  Mr.  Garfield  was  nominated  it  was  neces 
sary  for  Wisconsin  to  do  its  share  in  electing  him.  The 
State  Central  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  One  Hun 
dred,  with  Mr.  Payne  at  the  helm  of  both,  undertook  the 
task.  In  this  presidential  contest  Mr.  Payne  reduced  the 
business  of  campaigning  to  an  exact  science  in  the  city 
of  Milwaukee.  A  secretary  and  a  set  of  books  were  the 
preliminary  paraphernalia.  Before  the  campaign  opened 
or  a  speech  was  made,  a  thorough  street  canvass  had  been 
made  in  the  city,  and  the  name,  age  and  residence  of  each 
male  person  obtained,  brought  to  the  secretary  and  alpha 
betized  in  the  books.  In  addition  was  entered  the  status 
of  each,  whether  naturalized,  whether  registered,  whether 
about  to  cast  his  first  vote,  whether  Republican,  Democrat 
or  doubtful  Proper  letters  were  mailed  to  the  members 
of  each  class.  The  unregistered  were  reminded  of  their 


44  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

political  duty,  the  unnaturalized  were  instructed  how  to 
become  citizens,  the  young  and  the  doubtful  were  fur 
nished  with  appropriate  political  nutriment,  the  Republi 
cans  confirmed  in  the  faith,  the  Democrats  warned  of  the 
error  of  their  \vays.  The  result  was  that  the  unregis 
tered  showed  their  gratitude  to  the  party  that  taught  them 
their  obligation,  the  unnaturalized  went  to  the  Republican 
Central  Committee  for  their  citizenship  blanks,  the  young 
men  flocked  to  the  Republican  standard.  Not  a  voter 
escaped  the  peering  glance  of  Mr.  Payne  and  his  com 
mittee.  So  completely  and  systematically  were  plans 
carried  out  that,  upon  November  i,  1880,  the  day  before 
election,  a  Republican  ballot  was  mailed  to  every  voter 
in  the  city  and  so  far  as  possible,  in  the  county,  with  an 
urgent  appeal  that  it  be  voted.  The  result  wras  that  Mr. 
Garfield  carried  the  county  of  Milwaukee  by  a  plurality 
of  3,091  votes,  an  increase  of  5,110  votes  over  the  Hayes 
figures  in  1876.  Throughout  the  state  Mr.  Garfield  had 
a  plurality  of  29,770  votes  over  the  Democratic  aspirant, 
General  Hancock.  The  Evening  Wisconsin^  scanning 
the  complete  returns  of  the  state,  was  moved  to  explain 
on  November  15,  1880,  that  Milwaukee  is  now  "the  ban 
ner  Republican  county  in  Wisconsin." 

It  should  have  been  stated  a  little  earlier  that  Mr. 
Payne  became  in  1880,  then  being  thirty-seven  years  of 
age,  a  member  of  the  Republican  National  Committee. 
It  may  here  be  added,  and  it  will  be  amplified  later,  that  in 
that  capacity  he  participated  actively  in  five  presidential 
campaigns  and  that  in  the  last  three  of  these  he  was  a 
member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  National  Com 
mittee. 

One  of  the  features  of  Mr.  Payne's  practice  of  poli- 


"MILWAUKEE  A  REPUBLICAN  COUNTY"  45 

tics  was  honesty  in  dealing  with  all  voters.  He  believed 
in  a  bold,  exact,  straightforward  declaration  of  party 
principles  and  a  square  and  open  fight  to  win  on  the  basis 
of  that  declaration.  Nothing  illustrates  this  attitude 
better  than  the!  mayoralty  campaign  in;  1884.  In  the 
Republican  nominating  convention  that  year,  held  March 
28,  1884,  the  declaration  of  principles,  which  Mr.  Payne 
assisted  to  frame  and  which  was  adopted  on  March  30, 
1884,  asserted  that  the  Republicans  were  in  favor  of  a 
more  rigid  regulation  of  the  liquor  traffic,  of  the  payment 
of  higher  licenses  by  the  saloons,  and  of  the  removal  of 
the  fire  and  police  departments  from  the  domain  of  poli 
tics.  Brave  as  this  stand  was  in  a  city  like  Milwaukee, 
it  was  taken  without  hesitation  and  the  campaign  fought 
out  under  Mr.  Payne's  leadership  with  those  issues  con 
stantly  thrust  into  prominence.  Mr.  Emil  Wallber, 
standing  on  this  platform,  was  elected  mayor  of  Milwau 
kee  by  a  plurality  of  about  three  thousand  votes.  To 
show  how  promises  are  sometimes  kept  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  Republican  legislature  elected  in  the  fall  of  1884 
passed  more  rigid  laws  relating  to  saloons,  made  enact 
ments  for  the  submission  to  different  municipalities  of 
propositions  for  higher  license  fees  and,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  took  the  fire  and  police  departments  of  Mil 
waukee  out  of  politics. 

Here  may  appropriately  be  printed  a  letter  to  the  Mil 
waukee  Sentinel  written  by  Mr.  Frederick  C.  Winkler,  of 
Milwaukee,  December  28,  1901,  at  the  time  of  Mr. 
Payne's  appointment  to  the  cabinet  of  President  Roose 
velt. 

It  may  not  be  without  interest  at  this  time  to  recall  a  bit  of 
political  history.  Prior  to  1885  it  had  been  the  practice  in  our  city 


46  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


for  each  newly  elected  mayor,  especially  when  there  was  a  change 
of  party,  to  appoint  a  new  chief  of  police  and  of  the  fire  department, 
and  then  after  a  few  days  a  long  list  of  dismissals  and  of  the  ap 
pointment  of  friends  of  the  new  man  would  follow  in  each  depart 
ment.  Bearing  in  mind  that  we  had  annual  elections  in  those  days, 
one  can  readily  imagine  the  Dolly  Varden  appearance  of  the  record 
so  made.  In  1884  the  Republican  city  convention  met  on  Wednesday 
in  the  latter  part  of  March,  nominated  a  ticket  with  Emil  Wallber 
for  mayor,  and  then  adjourned  till  Friday  evening.  At  the  ad 
journed  meeting  a  series  of  resolutions  was  reported,  among  which 
was  the  following: 

"Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  taking  the  police  and  fire 
departments  and  the  management  of  the  public  schools  out  of  the 
domain  of  politics  so  that  the  terms  of  office  of  policemen,  firemen, 
school  officials  and  teachers  shall  not  depend  on  the  results  of  each 
succeeding  election,  but  rather  upon  faithfulness  and  efficiency  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duties." 

At  this  time  Henry  C.  Payne  was  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Republican  State  Central  Committee.  Edward  Sanderson  was  its 
chairman.  The  two  were  on  the  closest  terms  of  political  intimacy. 
Both  were  deeply  interested  in  city  affairs  and  active,  leading  men 
in  our  local  politics.  Both  were  present  at  that  meeting.  Mr.  San 
derson  was  a  delegate  in  the  convention  and  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee  reporting  the  resolutions.  The  adjourned  convention  turned 
into  a  mass  meeting.  The  resolutions  and  the  nominations  were 
enthusiastically  ratified.  I  do  not  know  the  authorship  of  the  reso 
lution  quoted,  but  I  do  know  that  it  had  Mr.  Payne's  very  hearty 
indorsement. 

When  the  next  session  of  the  legislature  met,  it  was  he  who  saw 
to  the  preparation  of  a  bill  and  pushed  it  with  his  wonted  zeal.  I 
think  J.  R.  Brigham  drew  it.  I  remember  being  called  into  a  con 
ference  about  it  when  he  was  present.  Mr.  Payne  had  it  introduced 
and  looked  after  its  fate  in  the  legislature.  I  remember  well  my 
meeting  him  while  it  was  pending  and  asking  him  about  the  prospects 
of  its  passage,  and  his  answer.  It  was  this :  "The  Republican  party 
has  promised  the  people  of  Milwaukee  to  take  the  police  and  fire 
departments  out  of  politics ;  we  have  a  Republican  legislature,  and  I 
will  see  to  it  that  the  promise  is  redeemed."  It  was  redeemed.  The 
bill  was  passed,  and  it  was  one  of  the  most  valuable,  if  not  the  most 
valuable,  charter  reform  that  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin  has  given 
to  the  city  of  Milwaukee. 

Mr.  Payne  has  never  posed  in  the  special  role  of  a  reformer, 
but  he  has  always  stood  for  decency  and  efficiency  in  every  branch 
of  the  public  service.  In  his  administration  of  the  Milwaukee  post 
office  this  was  fully  exemplified,  and  the  civil  service  law  was  im 
partially  enforced. 


"MILWAUKEE  A  REPUBLICAN  COUNTY"  47 

During  the  presidential  campaign  of  1884  Mr.  Horace 
A.  Taylor  was  chairman  of  the  Republican  State  Central 
Committee.  The  secretary  and  treasurer  was  Mr.  Payne, 
and  the  headquarters  of  the  committee  at  the  corner  of 
Wisconsin  and  Jefferson  Streets,  in  Milwaukee,  the  cor 
ner  now  ornamented  by  the  Hotel  Pfister.  In  this  cam 
paign,  in  which  Mr.  James  G.  Elaine  and  Mr.  Grover 
Cleveland  were  the  candidates,  the  prospect  of  Republican 
success  was  not  encouraging.  There  was  much  disaffec 
tion;  there  were  many  '''mugwumps;"  there  were  green 
back  voters  and  prohibitionist  voters.  The  same  system 
was  pursued  throughout  the  state,  so  far  as  practicable  in 
so  large  an  area,  as  was  pursued  in  Milwaukee  county 
in  the  campaign  four  years  before.  Mr.  Payne  was  keen 
ly  ambitious  to  win  this  contest  in  Wisconsin  and  success 
crowned  his  efforts.  Mr.  Blaine  received  some  sixteen 
thousand  more  votes  than  Mr.  Cleveland. 

But  Mr.  Payne's  victory  was  barren;  the  Democrats 
carried  the  electoral  college,  Mr.  Cleveland  became  presi 
dent  March  4,  1885,  and  in  a  year  Mr.  Payne  was  evicted 
from  the  office  of  postmaster  of  Milwaukee  because  he  was 
an  "offensive  partisan." 


48  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  VIII 


15u0ine00  again 

Upon  Mr.  Payne's  retirement  from  the  Milwaukee 
post  ofnce  he  was  far  from  being  a  man  of  means.  Dur 
ing  his  tenure  in  the  federal  building  his  salary  had  been 
his  only  means  of  livelihood,  for  his  political  services 
while  they  brought  him  some  honor  and  much  odium, 
accumulated  for  him  no  wealth.  While  casting  about  for 
a  permanent  avocation  he  became  interested  with  Mr. 
William  H.  Bradley  and  Mr.  Wallace  G.  Collins  in  the 
development  of  Northern  Wisconsin.  He  was  largely  in 
strumental  in  securing  the  legislation  which  led  to  the 
settlement  and  uplift  of  that  section  of  the  state,  particu 
larly  in  obtaining  legislative  permission  to  erect  a  large 
dam  at  Tomahawk,  Wisconsin.* 

Mr.  Collins,  above  mentioned,  residing  in  1887  in 
Milwaukee,  now  of  Chicago,  thus  writes  concerning  Mr. 
Payne's  land  and  timber  enterprises : 

Mr.  Payne,  with  others,  determined  the  location  of  the  town  of 
Tomahawk,  believing  that  the  proximity  of  the  dam  would  encour 
age  sawmill  concerns  to  locate  at  that  point.  Mr.  Payne  was  selected 
to  take  charge  of  the  disposal  of  the  town  lots.  The  discussion  in 
the  legislature  over  the  installation  of  the  Tomahawk  dam  had  ad 
vertised  the  place  very  extensively  and  it  was  decided  to  offer  the 
lots  at  auction.  This  was  in  1887.  Mr.  Payne  sold  $115,000  worth 
of  lots  the  first  day. 

When  it  was  decided  to  extend  the  line  north  from  Tomahawk, 


*See  Chapter  346,  Laws  of  Wisconsin  for  1887,  published  April 
22,  1887. 


BUSINESS  AGAIN  49 


the  town  site  of  Minocqua  was  secured  by  us.  It  had  been  occupied 
for  nearly  200  years  as  the  site  of  an  Indian  village.  The  name 
Minocqua  was  adopted  after  a  number  of  interviews  with  the  Indians 
and  was  the  name  of  the  old  chief  of  the  tribe.  Mr.  Payne  at  first 
thought  the  Indian  equivalent  for  the  name  Tomahawk  would  be 
appropriate,  but  it  was  too  long.  He  then  thought  to  name  the  town 
after  the  wife  of  the  chief.  He  spent  the  best  part  of  a  day  trying 
to  spell  her  name  in  English  on  pieces  of  birch  bark,  but  after 
shortening  it  in  every  way  possible,  he  found  it  would  take  thirty- 
six  letters  at  the  least  calculation,  and  he  finally  gave  it  up. 

He  arranged  with  the  Indians  to  remove  to  the  reservation,  and 
the  town  site  of  Minocqua  was  put  into  Mr.  Payne's  hands  and  sold 
by  him.  The  first  child  born  in  Minocqua  was  given  a  town  lot  and 
each  church  denomination  was  presented  with  a  site  for  a  church. 

These  ventures  brought  Mr.  Payne  in  contact  with  the  timber 
enterprises  in  Northern  Wisconsin  in  which  he  at  one  time  engaged 
quite  extensively  in  connection  with  myself  and  other  parties.  I 
was  also  associated  with  Mr.  Payne  in  several  other  land  transac 
tions  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee  and  in  Chicago  and  elsewhere.  I 
always  found  him  a  man  of  most  excellent  judgment  and  painstaking 
care  and  of  the  strictest  integrity  in  the  handling  of  all  the  interests 
in  which  I  was  associated  with  him. 

During  the  trips  we  made  together  to  the  wilds  of  Northern 
Wisconsin  in  furtherance  of  our  various  projects,  I  learned  to  know 
Mr.  Payne  in  a  way  that  a  man  can  only  be  known  in  roughing  it  in 
camp  life.  Opportunity  was  afforded  to  discuss  many  men  and 
measures  and  I  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  breadth  of  his  views 
and  the  fairness  of  his  judgment.  The  friendship  formed  during  this 
period  lasted  until  his  death.  As  an  evidence  of  my  confidence  in 
Mr.  Payne,  I  may  say  that  at  one  time  he  held  for  me  either  in  his 
name  or  as  trustee,  all  of  my  interests  in  eight  different  companies. 

But,  to  speak  properly  of  what  became  his  daily  rou 
tine  of  business,  it  is  necessary  to  be  once  more  remin 
iscent. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Fortnightly  Club,  Milwaukee,  held 
July  15,  1875,  at  the  office  of  Mr.  William  W.  Wight  in 
the  Insurance  Building,*  Mr.  Elisha  Gray,  of  Chicago, 
read  a  paper  bearing  a  new  name  about  a  new  subject,  the 


*The  Old  Insii.rance  Building  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Wis 
consin  Street  and  Broadway. 


50  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

telephone.  By  means  of  wires  stretched  about  this  office, 
the  hall  and  adjoining  offices,  Mr.  Gray  illustrated  and 
explained  the  then  astonishing  discovery  in  the  transmis 
sion  of  sound.  These  were  the  first  experiments  with  the 
telephone  in  Wisconsin.* 

Among  the  members  of  the  Fortnightly  Club  present 
during  these  experiments  was  Mr.  Charles  H.  Haskins, 
then  representing  in  Milwaukee  the  Northwestern  Tele 
graph  Company.  Naturally  interested  in  electrical  sub 
jects  the  telephone  appealed  to  Mr.  Haskins  and  it  was 
through  him  that  the  telephone  was  practically  introduced 
into  Milwaukee.  In  1879  he  was  the  agent  of  the  Bell 
Telephone  Company  with  an  office  with  the  Northwestern 
Telegraph  Company  at  Number  411  Broadway.  By  1880 
the  Milwaukee  Telephone  exchange  was  established  at 
the  same  place,  Mr.  Haskins  being  the  president.  In 
1882  the  Wisconsin  Telephone  Company  succeeded  the 
Milwaukee  Telephone  Company,  the  same  president  con 
tinuing.  In  the  new  corporation  Milwaukee  capital  had 
the  majority  interest,  and  the  American  Bell  Telephone 
Company  represented  by  Mr.  Charles  H.  Haskins  held 
minority  holdings.  Mr.  Benjamin  K.  Miller,  Mr.  Ed 
ward  H.  Brodhead  and  Mr.  Frank  G.  Bigelow  were  the 
earliest  local  stock  owners  outside  of  the  Haskins  in 
terests.  Then  followed  closely  Mr.  Payne,  Mr.  Charles 
Ray,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Pfister,  Mr.  Henry  F.  Whitcomb, 
Mr.  Charles  G.  Stark  and  Mr.  John  D.  McLeod.  Mr. 
Payne  became  the  vice-president  of  the  Wisconsin  Tele 
phone  Company,  October  5,  1886,  and  the  president  Feb- 


*I  find  no  patent  issued  upon  a  "telephone,"  so-called,  until  No 
vember,  1877. 


BUSINESS  AGAIN  51 


ruary  1 i,  1889.  This  latter  position  he  occupied  for  more 
than  ten  years,  resigning  May  17,  1899,  when  his  interest 
with  those  of  other  Milwaukee  owners  was  sold  to  the 
Erie  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company  then  operating 
in  Minnesota  and  Michigan.  During  the  ten  years  of 
Mr.  Payne's  administration,  the  plant  of  the  Telephone 
Company  was  largely  increased  and  extended,  and  the 
concern  made  prosperous.  It  was  he  who  selected  the 
site  for  the  general  offices  of  the  Company  at  Number  424 
Broadway,  and  supervised  the  erection  of  the  building. 
In  it  the  executive  rooms  were  separated  from  the  noisy 
operating  quarter.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the 
same  administrative  qualities,  shrewdness,  good  judgment 
and  business  sense,  which  had  been  and  were  his  char 
acteristics  in  the  management  of  political  campaigns  were 
employed  by  him  in  directing  the  affairs  of  this  growing 
corporation. 

Mr.  John  D.  McLeod,  formerly  general  manager  and 
now  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  Wisconsin  Telephone 
Company,  was  closely  associated  with  Mr.  Payne  in  tele 
phone  work  and  has  this  to  say  of  his  impressions  of  his 
superior  in  office: 

In  the  early  days  of  the  Telephone  Company,  during  its  forma 
tive  period,  his  strong  hand  successfully  piloted  the  business  through 
many  unusual  difficulties.  As  a  monopoly,  it  was  sorely  beset  by 
the  prejudices  of  the  public  it  was  created  to  serve,  by  the  lack  of 
capital  for  its  expanding  needs  and  by  mischievous  legislation,  and 
was  in  many  ways  dependent  for  success  upon  the  masterful  powers 
which  Mr.  Payne  brought  to  it,  and  that  skill  in  affairs  which  in 
spired  confidence  in  all  his  undertakings. 

Mr.  Payne  was  petty  in  nothing.  I  bear  witness  to  no  sign  of 
impatience  in  my  fifteen  years  of  intimate  observation,  though  provo 
cation  was  frequent  and  dire. 

His  master  mind,  the  magnetic  qualities  of  the  man,  the  sim 
plicity  and  generosity  of  his  nature  and  an  even  measure  of  courtesy 


52  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

to  the  great  and  little  alike,  marked  him  a  conspicuous  personality. 
These  endowments  with  all  the  lovable  personal  traits  following  in 
their  train  endeared  him  to  his  intimates,  and  justify  his  national 
fame. 

We  have  thought  him  as  great  a  general  in  the  "Arts  of  Peace" 
as  Grant  in  the  "Arts  of  War,"  and  have  felt  that  the  tribute  of 
Congress  to  Grant  might  as  fitly  memorialize  the  achievements  of 
Henry  C.  Payne : 

"Patient  of  toil,  serene  amidst  alarms, 
Inflexible  in  faith,  invincible  in  arms." 

A  number  of  matters  miscellaneous  in  character  be 
longing  to  the  last  fourteen  years  of  Mr.  Payne's  life  may 
properly  be  grouped  here  that  they  may  not  interrupt  the 
march  of  more  important  events  pressing  upon  the  later 
pages. 

In  the  year  1890  Mr.  Payne  became  a  director  of  the 
First  National  Bank  of  Milwaukee  as  successor  to  Mr. 
George  Dyer.  This  position  he  held  until  his  death. 

In  about  the  same  year  he  became  a  director  of  the 
Milwaukee  Gas  Light  Company  and  occupied  this  posi 
tion  until  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Washington. 

On  October  I,  1890,  he  became  a  director  of  the  Mil 
waukee  and  Northern  Railroad  Company,  and  was  the 
president  of  that  corporation  from  November  12,  1890, 
until  his  death.  This  position  was,  however,  little  more 
than  a  sinecure  as  all  the  property  of  the  corporation,  in 
cluding  its  road,  was  transferred  August  28,  1893,  to  the 
Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railway  Company. 

On  December  8,  1892,  with  Mr.  Thomas  YV.  Spence, 
of  Milwaukee,  and  certain  officials  of  the  just  named 
railroad  company,  he  formed  the  North  Milwaukee  In 
vestment  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  in  lots  in 
that  suburb.  A  number  of  subdivisions  in  North  Mil- 


BUSINESS  AGAIN  53 


waukee  are  named  for  Mr.  Payne,  while  the  principal 
street,  Villard  Avenue,  attests  his  admiration  for  his 
friend,  the  financier,  Mr.  Henry  Villard. 

Mr.  Payne  was  the  president  of  the  Fox  River  Valley 
Electric  Railway  Company,  with  headquarters  at  Apple- 
ton,  Wisconsin,  from  its  organization  until  about  the  year 
1900,  when  it  was  swallowed  up  as  a  connecting  link  in 
some  larger  line. 

When  the  convention  of  the  American  Street  Railway 
Association  was  held  in  Milwaukee,  in  1893,  Mr.  Payne 
was  chosen  the  president  of  that  body  in  recognition  of 
his  long  years  of  activity  and  prominence  in  street  railway 
matters. 

On  June  26,  1894,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Old 
Settlers'  Club  of  Milwaukee,  to  which  he  was  entitled  on 
account  of  a  residence  of  twenty-five  years  in  that  city. 

Mr.  Payne  was  a  member  of  the  Pennsylvania  His 
torical  Society,  and  on  December  8,  1898,  was  elected  a 
life  member  of  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin. 
In  the  museum  of  the  latter  society  is  now  preserved  the 
chair  which  he  occupied  while  a  member  of  the  cabinet  of 
President  Roosevelt  and  which  in  1905  was  presented  to 
the  Society  by  Mrs.  Payne.  The  history  of  the  chair  is 
shown  by  the  following  letter : 

WASHINGTON,  November  14,  1902. 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Payne,, 

Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

MR.  POSTMASTER-GENERAL:  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  send  you 
one  of  the  chairs  formerly  used  by  the  Cabinet  at  Cabinet  meetings 
at  the  White  House. 

The  chair  was  purchased  in  General  Grant's  time  and  has  been 
in  use  till  the  present  time.  Owing  to  the  construction  of  a  separate 
office  building  equipped  with  entirely  new  furniture,  this  chair  was 


54  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

no  longer  needed  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  purchased,  and  is 
therefore,  by  permission  of  the  President,  sent  to  you  as  a  souvenir. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

THEO.  A.  BINGHAM, 

Colonel  U.  S.  Army. 

Mr.  Payne  was  one  of  the  early  members  of  the  So 
ciety  of  Colonial  Wars  for  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  claim 
ing  membership  by  virtue  of  his  descent  from  Mr.  Moses 
Pain  of  Braintree  and  from  the  latter  s  son,  Stephen  Pain. 
From  1902  until  his  death  Mr.  Payne  was  the  Deputy 
Governor  General  of  the  Society.  No  one  who  attended 
the  dinner  given  by  that  Society  on  December  21,  1901, 
will  forget  the  feeling  and  eloquent  address  of  Mr.  Payne 
to  his  fellow  members.  A  residence  soon  to  begin  in 
Washington  was  deeply  impressing  upon  his  mind  the 
urgent  need  of  a  disinterested  and  heaven-inspired 
patriotism. 

On  December  16,  1900,  Mr.  Payne  was  elected  a  mem 
ber  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Indianapolis  Mone 
tary  Convention. 

He  was  likewise  the  original  trustee  for  Wisconsin  of 
the  McKinley  National  Memorial  Association,  which  posi 
tion  he  still  held  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

For  the  artistic  betterment  of  the  city  of  his  love  Mr. 
Payne  presented  to  it  the  eight  stone  lions  which  now 
ornament  the  approaches  to  the  two  bridges  over  the  Light 
House  Ravine  in  Lake  Park,  Milwaukee.  The  letter  of 
thankful  acceptance  by  the  park  commissioners  is  dated 
August  6,  1897. 

The  trustees  of  Milwaukee-Downer  College  gratefully 
remember  Mr.  Payne,  Mr.  Frank  G.  Bigelow  and  Mr. 


BUSINESS  AGAIN  55 


Charles  F.  Pfister  for  their  joint  gift  of  fifteen  hundred 
dollars,  which  fully  equipped  the  gymnasium  of  that  in 
stitution. 

It  is  not  amiss  to  emphasize  in  this  connection  that 
Mr.  Payne  was  a  constant  and  generous  giver.  All  ob 
jects  aiming  at  the  advancement  and  improvement  of  Mil 
waukee,  all  public  benevolent  institutions,  and  churches  of 
any  faith,  were  granted  his  liberal  benefactions.  He  was 
particularly  thoughtful  of  All  Saints'  Cathedral,  Milwau 
kee,  whose  bishop*  received  his  frequent  aid  for  cathedral 
improvements  and  for  church  work. 

His  assistance  was  always  ready  and  ample  for  funds 
for  the  destitute  and  distressed,  as,  for  one  example,  for 
the  fund  for  the  sufferers  in  the  Third  Ward  conflagra 
tion  in  Milwaukee,  October  28,  1892. 


*Right  Reverend  Isaac  L.   Nicholson,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Milwaukee,  who  died  in  that  city,  October  29,  1906. 


56  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  IX 


Concerning  Street 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  insignificant 
condition  of  the  street  railways  of  Milwaukee  when  Mr. 
Payne  first  took  up  his  residence  in  that  city.  It  would 
be  unprofitable  here  to  chronicle  the  tardy  processes  of 
improvement,  both  in  equipment  and  in  transportation, 
and  the  gradual  growth  of  independent  and  partially 
competing  corporations  operating  in  different  portions  of 
the  city  and  suburbs.  Let  it  suffice  to  observe  that  in  and 
about  1890  the  North  American  Company,  a  corporation 
of  New  York,  had  large  stock  holdings  in  Milwaukee 
street  railways ;  that  Mr.  Payne  represented,  in  Milwaukee, 
those  holdings,  and  that  there  were  then  no  fewer  than 
five  different  street  railway  companies,  familiarly  known 
as  horse-railways,  in  operation.  These  five  were  the 
Cream  City  Railroad  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Oren  E. 
Britt,  of  Milwaukee,  was  the  president;  the  Milwaukee 
City  Railroad  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Walter  G.  Oak- 
man,  of  New  York,  was  the  president;  the  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  Company,  of  which  Mr.  F.  E.  Hinckley, 
was  president;  the  West  Side  Railway  Company,  of 
which  Mr.  Washington  Becker  was  president,  the  pioneer 
road  in  the  city  to  use  electricity  as  a  motive  power ;  and 
the  Whitefish  Bay  Railway  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Will- 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  57 

iam  H.  Bradley  and  Mr.  Israel  H.  Lowry  were  the  chief 
officers,  the  first  road  in  Milwaukee  authorized  by  ordi 
nance*  to  use  other  than  animal  power  for  propulsion. 

To  Mr.  Payne's  mind  the  union  of  these  disconnected 
and  discordant  lines  was  a  matter  of  great  moment,  and 
upon  his  shoulders  fell  the  burden  of  accomplishing  this 
union.  To  be  sure  he  was  not  at  that  time  a  practical 
street  railroad  man;  his  experience  had  been  along  other 
lines,  but  the  general  business  ability  was  there,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  the  negotiation  which  was  required  for 
such  intricate  and  involved  matters  he  possessed  all  the 
essential  qualities — aggressive  energy  and  tenacity  of  pur 
pose  tempered  by  a  spirit  of  conciliation  and  compromise, 
of  amiability  and  patience. 

On  December  22,  1890,  the  first  two  above  named  cor 
porations  had  merged  and  become  the  Milwaukee  Street 
Railway  Company,  with  Mr.  Henry  Villard,t  of  New 
York,  as  the  president;  Mr.  William  L.  Mason,  now  of 
Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  as  auditor,  and  Mr. 
Payne  as  vice-president,  this  being  Mr.  Payne's  first 
prominent  connection  with  street  railway  affairs.  On 
September  29,  1891,  the  stock  of  the  West  Side  Railway 
Company  was  transferred  to  the  North  American  Com 
pany,  an  eastern  corporation,  in  the  interest  of  the  Mil- 


*The  ordinance  was  passed  June  14,  1886,  and  required  the  use 
of  animal  power  on  Farwell  Avenue  and  Bradford  Street  and  per 
mitted  the  use  of  steam  motors,  electricity  or  magnetism,  north  of 
the  intersection  of  Bradford  Street  and  Glen  Avenue. 

tMr.  Villard  had  been  greatly  interested  in  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad,  in  the  Wisconsin  Central  Railway  and  in  other 
enterprises  in  the  northwest.  For  his  various  enterprises  he  needed 
a  holding  company  to  manage  his  smaller  companies,  and  therefore 
he  formed  and  controlled  the  North  American  Company.  He  be 
came  acquainted  with  Mr.  Payne  through  his  investments  in  the 
West. 


58  HENRY  CLAY  PAY.M;:     A  LIFK 

waukce  Street  Railway  Company.  In  1X92  consolidation 
had  no  further  advanced,  and  there  had  come  into  being 
the  Milwaukee  and  Wauwatosa  Motor  Railway  Company 
with  Mr.  James  Pel  ley  as  the  president.  Ouring  1892 
Mr.  Villard  ceased  to  be  president  of  the  Milwaukee 
Street  Railway  Company  and  during  that  year  and  until 
1895  ^r-  J'aync  exercised  the  functions  of  the  higher 
office.  In  1893  the  street  railway  lines  remained  as  in 
1892,  but  by  January  29,  189/1,  the  last  named  company 
had  absorbed  all  the  strictly  city  lines — there  remaining 
only  as  separate  entities  the  Whitefish  Hay  line  and  tlie 
Wauwatosa  Motor  line.  In  1895  the  consolidation  had 
become  complete,  and  there  were  included  in  the  merger 
companies  formed  for  electric  lighting  purposes  such  as 
the  Hadger  Illuminating  Company  and  the  Kdison  Klcc- 
tric  Illuminating  Company,  of  both  of  which  corporations 
Mr.  fvlward  C.  Wall,  of  Milwaukee,  had  been  the  presi 
dent,  and  which  corporations  had  in  1891  and  in  1890 
sold  their  property  to  the  Milwaukee  Street  Railway 
Company. 

Hut  the  company  thus  formed  was  far  from  being  in 
a.  flourishing  financial  condition,  and  sought  in  vain  for 
the  money  in  pay  its  debts.  Foreclosure  proceedings 
were  instituted  against  it  May  24,  1895,  by  the  Central 
Trust  Company  of  Xew  York,  to  which  it  had  mortgaged 
its  property  on  January  29,  1894,  for  ten  million  dollars; 
receivers  were  appointed,  to-wit :  Mr.  Payne  and  Mr. 
George  R.  Sheldon,  and  steps  taken  to  change  the  lan 
guid  body  into  a  healthy  being.  Out  of  this  receivership 
arose  on  January  29,  1896,  the  corporation  now  existing 
known  as  The  Milwaukee  FJcctric  Railway  and  Light 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  59 

Company.  Of  this  company  Mr.  William  Xelson  Crom 
well,  of  Xew  York,  was  president,  and  Mr.  Payne  the 
vice-president. 

Prior  to  the  consolidation  Mr.  Payne's  shoulders  bore 
the  principal  weight  of  the  street  railroad  business.  Apart 
from  the  negotiations  for  union — for  the  accomplishment 
of  which  he  deserves  great,  and  the  chief,  credit — there 
was  need  to  convince  trie  Xew  York  capitalists  that  the 
entire  line  was  worthy  of  equipment  with  electricity.  The 
passing  away  of  the  sluggish  and  patient  mule  in  favor 
of  the  tireless  trolley  is  due  to  his  efforts,  for  he  had 
familiarized  himself  with  the  results  obtained  by  the  subtle 
fluid  and  foresaw  that  electricity  had  come  to  stay.  In 
deed,  as  an  evidence  of  his  confidence  in  the  future  of  the 
trolley  system  it  may  here  be  mentioned  that  he  invested 
in  Milwaukee  street  railway  stock  the  proceeds  of  a 
matured  life  insurance  policy  taken  out  by  him  in  his 
younger  days. 

The  well-being  of  the  employes  of  the  company  was 
a  matter  of  much  concern  to  the  interests  of  the  com 
pany,  in  the  belief  of  Mr.  Payne,  apart  from  considera 
tions  of  humanity.  Of  many  of  the  employes  lie  knew  the 
names  and  the  residences,  and  their  condition  as  to  mar 
riage  and  offspring:  and  increases  of  salaries — which  came 
more  than  once  without  solicitation — were  based  upo^ 
domestic  situation  of  the  men.  Indeed,  a  plan  whic'. 
lowed  the  participation  of  the  employes  in  the  company's 
profits,  and  tied  them  to  the  company's  interests,  by  per 
mitting  them  to  purchase  the  company's  stock  at  an  ad 
vantageous  figure  was  worked  out  and  put  into  effect  after 
the  strike,  which  occurred  in  the  spring  of  1800. 


60  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

This  strike  broke  out  after  the  consolidation  of  the 
different  companies  into  The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway 
and  Light  Company  and  had  its  formative  period  and 
preparations  during  a  trip  which  Mr.  Payne  with  his  wife 
had  taken  to  Europe  for  rest  and  recreation.  It  grew 
out  of  the  demands  which  the  motormen  and  conductors 
made  for  shorter  hours  and  greater  pay  and  for  official 
recognition  of  their  union,  which  then  flourished  under 
the  ponderous  name  of  Amalgamated  Street  Railway  Em 
ployes,  and  which  had  the  financial  assistance  of  other 
unions  in  various  sections  of  the  country.  These  de 
mands  were  unreasonable  and  tyrannical  in  their  char 
acter  and  submission  to  them  would  have  been  equivalent 
to  a  surrender  of  the  control  of  the  road.  Upon  the  re 
turn  of  Mr.  Payne  from  abroad,  although  he  was  not  then 
in  vigorous  health,  and  although  political  ambitions  might 
have  made  his  stay  in  the  background  a  matter  of  the 
highest  prudence,  he  assumed  immediately  the  burdens 
of  his  office  in  the  Railway  Company,  one  of  which 
burdens  was  the  management  of  its  affairs  during  this 
strike.  Mr.  Payne's  position  was  that,  whatever  the 
merits  of  the  complaints,  the  company  must  be  permitted 
to  manage  its  affairs  in  its  own  way  and  without  the  co 
ercion  or  interference  of  a  labor  union.  It  would  seem 
that  the  majority  of  the  populace  did  not  agree  with  Mr. 
Payne's  position.  The  tie-up  by  the  strikers,  which  be 
gan  on  Monday,  May  4,  1896,  was  at  first  effectual,  the 
road  was  greatly  handicapped,  and  the  management 
labored  under  the  obloquy  not  only  of  the  rebelling  work 
men,  but  also  of  the  incommoded  and  unsympathetic  pub 
lic.  However,  the  company  put  on  a  bold  front,  ran 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  61 

the  cars  so  far  as  their  loyal  help  permitted,  imported 
strike  breaking  motormen   and  conductors   from  every 
where,   and  paid  special  deputies  in  citizens'  clothes  to 
protect  the  crews   from  assaults.     It  required  no  little 
courage  for  a  patron  to  board  the  cars.     He  had  fear  of 
his  head  from  the  vagaries  of  a  fugitive  stone,  and  he 
had  the  additional  fear  of  a  boycott  of  his  business  in 
case  he  should  be  spotted.     Stages  did  a  thriving  trade, 
men    unused   to   walking    developed   abnormal    muscles, 
while  heavily  laden  teams  mysteriously  broke  down  ath 
wart  the  tracks  and  no  bystanders  could  be  found  to  as 
sist  in  clearing  the  wrecks.     While  the  conflict  was  at  its 
height  the  strikers,  astonished  at  the  unyielding  front  dis 
played  by  the  company,  sent  a  committee  to  the  directors 
offering  to  call  off  the  strike  and  abandon  their  demands, 
if  they  could  be  accorded  their  former  positions  with  the 
company.     Not  a  few  of  the  directors,  anxious  to  ter 
minate  the  unprofitable  strife,  jumped  at  this  proposition. 
But  Mr.  Payne  absolutely  and  positively  refused  to  con 
sider  the  offer,  involving  as  it  did  bad  faith  to  the  new 
men  who  had  taken  the  strikers'  places  upon  the  express 
promise  of  Mr.  Payne  that  they  should  not  be  molested. 
Mr.    Payne's    firmness    and    insistence    won    the    other 
directors  and  the  strike  continued. 

The  boycott  was  as  effective  as  the  strike  and  con 
tinued  long  after  the  strike  had  been  defeated.  Grocers, 
butchers  and  tobacconists  refused  the  patronage  of  the 
strike  breakers  and  of  the  loyal  old  employes.  With  diffi 
culty  these  procured  bread  and  meat  for  themselves  and 
their  families.  The  company,  which  was  feeding  and 
housing  the  working  crews,  in  improvised  kitchens  and 


62  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

barracks,  could  not  purchase  supplies  in  Milwaukee  and 
was  obliged  to  procure  from  Chicago  food  already  pre 
pared  and  import  cooks. 

While  the  non-sufferers  enjoyed  the  situation,  Mr. 
Payne  was  the  object  of  particular  hatred,  the  strikers 
being  especially  severe.  He  was  burned  in  effigy,  scare 
crow  bodies  bearing  his  name  were  gleefully  trampled 
upon,  and  on  one  occasion  he  was  exhibited  in  an  open 
window  lying  in  a  coffin  on  which  was  pinned  the  in 
scription,  Death  to  Scab  Payne!  Well-bred  people  con 
demned  him,  ill-bred  people  called  him  names,  the  labor 
ing  classes  cursed  him,  the  politicians  shunned  him,  the 
mobs  surging  the  streets  jeered  at  the  mention  of  his 
name.  But  none  of  these  things  moved  him  from  uni 
form  serenity.  Conscious  that  his  position  was  sound, 
he  kept  on  importing  new  men,  the  strikers  were  impotent 
to  prevent  their  arrival,  the  police  quelled  the  disturbers, 
the  cars  gradually  assumed  regular  routine,  the  new  men 
became  accustomed  to  their  positions,  the  strike  died  out, 
the  Amalgamated  Street  Railway  Employes  was  no  more. 
Those  of  the  old  men  who  had  not  been  violent  in  the 
strike  and  who  by  returning  would  not  displace  the  men 
who  had  stood  by  the  company  in  their  trial,  were  taken 
back.  These  with  the  new  men  constitute  the  nucleus  of 
the  present  employes  who  in  self-discipline  and  in  loyalty 
to  the  interests  of  the  company  are  of  the  highest  grade 
of  excellence. 

All  through  the  long  years  of  negotiation  necessary  to 
consolidation  of  the  various  railways  and  lighting  com 
panies,  and  during  the  following  years  of  reconstruction, 
Mr.  Payne  stood  at  the  helm,  guiding  and  controlling  al 
most  absolutely  the  complicated  affairs  of  the  company, 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  63 

and  in  addition  performing  the  duties  of  general  manager 
for  the  operation  of  the  road,  aided  only  by  consultation 
with  the  New  York  representatives  of  the  company.  The 
consolidation  was  now  effected.  The  reconstruction  was 
about  finished,  and  the  task  which  he  had  assumed  was 
successfully  accomplished.  After  years  of  laborious  de 
tail  work,  Mr.  Payne  wished  now  to  be  relieved  of  a  part 
of  his  burden,  and  Mr.  Charles  D.  Wyman  was  about 
this  time  engaged  as  general  manager,  and  as  such  he 
assisted  Mr.  Payne  through  some  of  the  trying  crises 
through  which  the  Company  had  to  pass,  notably  the 
strike  of  1896,  and  the  attempt  of  the  Common  Council 
of  Milwaukee  to  compel  a  reduction  of  the  fares.  Mr. 
Wyman  later  accepted  a  position  with  the  street  railways 
of  New  Orleans,  and  Mr.  John  I.  Beggs  (w^ho  had  been 
the  western  representative  of  the  Edison  General  Electric 
Company)  was  appointed  general  manager  of  the  Mil 
waukee  Company  and  thereafter  shared  the  onerous 
duties  of  the  management  with  Mr.  Payne,  until  the 
latter  withdrew  from  all  active  connection  with  the  affairs 
of  the  company. 

The  road  was  one  of  large  possibilities,  but  because 
of  the  great  expense  of  consolidation  and  reconstruc 
tion  and  especially  because  that  for  several  years  the 
patronage  of  the  road  as  compared  with  that  of  other 
cities  of  about  the  same  population  as  Milwaukee  was  very 
small,  the  income  had  been  greatly  inadequate,  the  road 
not  earning  the  interest  on  its  new  indebtedness;  with 
poor  equipment,  in  some  parts  of  the  system  little  more 
than  "'a  franchise  and  a  streak  of  rust/'  the  lines  needed 
and  received  unremitting,  exhausting  and,  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Payne,  undermining  toil. 


64  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

Several  matters  pertaining  to  Mr.  Payne's  labors  for 
consolidation  deserve  attention,  but  are  not  presented  per 
haps  in  a  strictly  chronological  order : 

Firstly :  The  selection  of  the  site  of  the  present  Public 
Service  Building  or  terminal  station  of  the  street  railways, 
at  the  block  bounded  by  Second,  Sycamore,  Third  and 
Everett  Streets.  From  the  company's  records  in  New 
York  the  fact  appears  that  the  conception  of  the  idea 
of  a  central  depot  or  station  with  offices  in  the  heart  of 
the  city  was  due  to  Mr.  Payne,  and  that  he  himself 
selected  the  site  above  described,  which  has  since  been 
utilized.  Much  of  the  preliminary  planning  for  the 
stately  structure  now  standing  upon  this  site  was  done  by 
Mr.  Payne,  and  its  present  admirable  equipment  for  the 
work  intended,  as  well  as  for  the  comfort,  convenience 
and  happiness  of  the  employes,  laboriously  and  ingen 
iously  wrought  out  by  Mr.  Beggs,  would  have  delighted 
the  soul  of  Mr.  Payne  could  he  have  lived  to  wander 
through  the  completed  building  in  1906.  His  portrait 
was  presented  by  Mrs.  Payne  to  the  company  with  the 
request  that  it  hang  in  an  appropriate  place  in  this  new 
building. 

Secondly :  The  contest  over  reduction  of  fares. — On 
June  n,  1896,  just  about  the  period  of  the  strike  before 
alluded  to,  the  Common  Council  adopted  an  ordinance  re 
quiring  the  Street  Railway  Company  to  sell  six  tickets  for 
twenty-five  cents,  and  twenty-five  tickets  for  one  dollar. 
The  company  was  then  in  no  financial  condition  to  stand 
the  consequent  reduction  of  income  and  contested  the  rea 
sonableness  of  the  ordinance.  Into  the  litigation  which 
resulted  from  the  city's  attempt  to  enforce  the  ordinance, 
Mr.  Payne  threw  all  his  heart  and  soul.  He  assisted  the 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  65 


counsel  for  the  company  in  marshalling  the  evidence  to 
show  the  injustice  of  the  city's  action,  and  in  earnest  and 
convincing  language  presented  the  argument  before  de 
liberating  committees,  and  the  facts  before  the  courts. 
Two  actions*  were  begun  against  the  city,  one  by  the 
Railway  Company  and  the  other  by  The  Central  Trust 
Company,  the  trustee  for  the  bondholders.  Both  com 
plainants  sought  a  decree  declaring  the  ordinance  null  and 
void  as  a  violation  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States. 
The  case  was  argued  before  Judge  Seaman  in  the  Circuit 
Court  of  the  United  States,  Eastern  District  of  Wiscon 
sin,  and  his  long  and  luminous  opinion  on  the  subject  of 
the  reasonableness  of  the  ordinance  went  a  long  way  in 
settling  the  law  upon  that  subject.  Judge  Seaman,  on 
May  31,  1898,  granted  an  injunction  perpetually  enjoin 
ing  the  enforcement  of  the  ordinance.  The  syllabus  of 
the  case  sufficiently  sums  up  the  decision  of  Judge 
Seaman : 

1.  An  ordinance  requiring  a  street  railroad  charging  five  cent 
fares  to  sell  six  tickets  for  twenty-five  cents  or  twenty-five  tickets 
for  one  dollar  is  unreasonable  when  the  road  is  only  making  yearly 
net  earnings  of    3.3    per    cent,    to  4.5  per  cent,  on  its  bona  fide  in 
vestment  and  paying  5  per  cent,  interest  on  its  bonds,  in  a  city  where 
the  current  rate  of  interest  on  first  mortgage  real  estate  security  is 
6  per  cent.     Such  an  ordinance  is  void  under  the  fourteenth  amend 
ment,  as  depriving  the  company  of  its  property  without  due  process 
of  law. 

2.  The  power  of  a  municipality  to  regulate  street-railroad  fares 
i?   subject  to  the  limitations    (i)    that  there  is   reasonable  need  on 
the   part  of  the    public,   considering  the   nature   and    extent  of  the 
service,  of  lower  rates  and  better  terms  than  those  existing;  (2)  that 
the  rates  and  terms  fixed  by  the  ordinance  are  not  clearly  unreason 
able,  in  view  of  all  the  conditions. 

^Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company  v.  the  City  of 
Milwaukee,  and  Central  Trust  Company  of  New  York  v.  the  City  of 
Milwaukee,  87  Federal  Reporter  577.  See  also  Tift  v.  Southern 
Railway  Company,  138  Federal  Reporter  753,  768. 


66  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

After  this  decision,  in  the  fall  of  1898  the  mayor 
sought  to  obtain  by  concession  from  the  Railway  Com 
pany  what  was  impossible  to  obtain  by  demand.  The 
company  was  unwilling  to  concede  a  reduction  of  fare, 
but  agreed  to  make  annually  increasing  money  payments 
to  the  city  if  an  extension  of  franchises  were  accorded. 
The  correspondence  embodying  this  matter  was  submitted 
to  the  Council  November  19,  1898,  but  the  subject  was 
ordered  indefinitely  postponed  by  the  Council  because  such 
payments,  while  a  benefit  to  the  city,  would  not  benefit 
the  public  as  would  reduction  of  fares.  This  subject  will 
soon  appear  again. 

Thirdly:  Contest  over  non-user  of  franchises. — 
There  were  other  instances  of  the  harassing  of  the  street 
railway  consolidation  in  the  beginning  of  its  career  in 
Milwaukee.  One  such  instance  was  the  action  in  equity 
brought  May  24,  1896,  to  enjoin  the  company  from  re 
laying  its  tracks  along  Washington  Avenue  in  Milwaukee, 
in  front  of  the  property  of  the  plaintiffs.  For  four  years 
and  eight  months  prior  to  said  date — a  period  of  great  in 
dustrial  depression  at  large,  as  well  as  of  financial  strin 
gency  with  the  company — it  had  not  operated  its  line 
along  this  avenue.  Indeed,  with  the  company's  knowl 
edge,  the  old  track,  not  adapted  for  electricity,  had  long 
been  taken  up  and  the  street  paved.  An  ordinance  was 
introduced  December  2,  1895,  to  repeal  the  franchise 
along  that  portion  of  the  avenue  where  the  plaintiffs  lived, 
but  Mr.  Payne  appeared  before  the  railroad  committee  of 
the  Council  and  objected  to  the  forfeiture  on  the  ground 
that  the  company  intended  to  reconstruct  and  reoperate 
in  the  spring  of  1896.  No  action  to  forfeit  was  taken. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  Sunday,  May  24,  1896,  with  a 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  67 

large  force,  the  company  started  to  lay  its  tracks  along 
the  avenue  in  front  of  the  property  of  plaintiffs.  The 
latter  claimed  that  this  was  "snap"  action  intended  to 
avoid  injunctions;  Mr.  Payne  claimed  that  Sunday  was 
used  in  order  to  delay  traffic  as  little  as  possible  on  secular 
days.  If  the  former  was  the  reason  it  was  unavailing, 
for  an  injunction  obtained  on  Sunday  stopped  the  work, 
and  on  Monday  the  Board  of  Public  Works  ordered  the 
company  to  take  away  its  rails  and  ties  and  restore  the 
avenue  within  twenty-four  hours.  Thereupon  the  next 
day  the  company  enjoined  the  city  from  enforcing  this 
order.  This  injunction  was  dissolved  in  the  lower  court 
and  an  injunction  which  the  city  had  obtained  preventing 
construction  and  operation  was  upheld  in  the  court  below. 
Both  injunctions  and  the  order  dissolving  the  company's 
injunction  went  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Wisconsin,*  and 
a  victory  was  scored  for  the  company  on  all  points. 

The  court  held  that  although  it  was  the  company's 
duty  to  serve  the  public  and  that  it  could  not  emancipate 
itself  from  that  duty  by  refusing  to  operate  its  cars,  yet 
that  in  view  of  Mr.  Payne's  representation  of  the  inten 
tion  of  the  company  to  reconstruct  and  reoperate,  and 
in  view  of  an  express  disclaimer  by  the  company  of  an 
intention  to  surrender,  the  fact  of  non-user  for  four  years 
and  eight  months  could  not  under  the  circumstances  be 
construed  into  a  surrender. 

The  Supreme  Court  held  also  that  the  city  had  mis 
taken  its  remedy.  While  the  state  had  delegated  to  the 
city  authority  to  act  for  it  and  on  its  behalf  in  granting 


* Wright  v.  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company,  95 
Wisconsin  29,  36  L.  R.  A.  47 ;  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light 
Company  v.  City  of  Milwaukee,  95  Wisconsin  42,  36  L.  R.  A.  45. 


68  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

franchises  to  build  and  operate  street  railways,  it  had  not 
granted  the  city  the  power  to  institute  and  maintain  ac 
tions  to  forfeit  such  franchises  for  misuse  or  abuse.  Such 
forfeiture  must  be  adjudged  by  an  action  in  the  name  of 
the  state  acting  through  its  attorney  general  and  by  leave 
of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Fourthly :  Franchise  extension. — With  the  placing, 
by  the  New  York  capitalists,  of  vast  sums  of  money  in 
the  Milwaukee  plant,  came  the  desire  to  recoup  the  same 
by  a  lengthening  of  the  time  of  the  enjoyment  of  the 
franchises.  Excepting  franchises  covering  two  streets  of 
minor  importance,  none  of  these  franchises  would  have 
expired  until  July  i,  1924.  Such  a  desire  on  the  part  of 
these  capitalists  was  not  unreasonable.  Extensive  im 
provements  \vere  making  in  every  direction;  new  and 
larger  cars  adorned  the  streets;  ne\v  and  heavier  rails 
afforded  smooth  transportation;  outspreading  lines 
tapped  populous  and  lucrative  suburban  districts;  a  gi 
gantic  power  house  ornamented  the  city  and  heightened 
the  efficiency  of  the  plant.  Thus  to  better  the  system 
without  return  or  without  hope  of  ample  recoupment  was 
not  to  be  expected — a  tenant  will  be  prodigal  of  his  own 
funds  in  a  rented  house  only  with  a  long  lease. 

As  a  result  of  these  considerations  the  Street  Railway 
Company  met  half  way  a  proposition  of  the  city  for  a  re 
duction  of  fares,  seeing  in  this  proposition  a  chance  for 
securing  the  much  desired  extension.  On  July  31,  1899, 
the  Common  Council  appointed  a  committee  of  nine  alder 
men  to  investigate  the  subject  of  reduction  of  fares,  which 
committee  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  representa 
tives  of  the  company.  Many  and  wearisome  were  the 
conferences.  The  company  appeared  by  Mr.  Villard, 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  69 

Mr.  William  X.  Cromwell,  Mr.  Charles  W.  Wetmore, 
Mr.  George  R.  Sheldon,  Mr.  Payne,  Mr.  Benjamin  K. 
Miller,  jr.,  Mr.  Charles  F.  Pfister  and  Mr.  Beggs,  while  in 
addition  to  the  members  of  the  committee  the  city  was 
represented  by  the  mayor,  Mr.  David  S.  Rose;  the  city 
attorney,  Mr.  Carl  Runge,  and  his  first  assistant,  Mr. 
Lawrence  W.  Halsey. 

An  ordinance  prepared  by  the  city  attorney  was 
printed  in  the  papers  of  the  city,  October  14,  1899.  It 
was  attacked  and  defended  by  citizens,  and  by  order  of 
the  committee  of  aldermen  was  redrafted.  On  Novem 
ber  6,  1899,  the  redrafted  ordinance  was  recommended 
by  the  committee  to  the  Council,  was  read  a  second  and 
third  time  and  referred  to  the  same  committee.  This  or 
dinance  in  addition  to  making  grant  of  additional  streets 
for  line  extensions  and  fixing  a  graduated  rate  of  fares, 
provided  that  the  franchise  should  end  on  December  31, 
1934 — a  date  exceeding  by  about  six  years  the  date  of 
maturity  of  the  company's  bonds,  and  exceedingly  more 
than  ten  years  whatever  date  of  expiry  had  theretofore 
existed.  This  tentative  ordinance  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  committee  almost  a  month.  On  December  4,  1899, 
it  reported  a  substitute  ordinance  not  substantially  differ 
ent  from  its  predecessor.  On  December  18,  1899,  the 
substitute,  slightly  amended  by  the  Council,  was  ordered 
to  a  third  reading  and  for  engrossment. 

But  the  ordinance  was  not  to  pass  without  opposition, 
and  opposition  that  took  the  form  of  legal  proceedings. 
Opposition  proceeded  from  various  sources,  from  lot 
owners  who  did  not  wish  the  passing  cars,  from  socialists 
who  clamored  for  municipal  ownership,  from  disgruntled 
citizens  who  were  opposed  to  all  busy  ventures  and  con- 


70  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

sidered  activity  a  crime;  from  newspapers,  hostile  per 
sonally  to  officers  of  the  company,  and  from  romancing 
writers  who  in  subsequently  issued  anonymous  screeds 
thinly  veiled  their  libels  under  slight  variations  of  names. 
The  litigation  which  began  December  21,  1899,  found  its 
way  into  the  Supreme  Court  in  three  different  actions,  but 
the  details  are  foreign  to  this  biography.*  Let  it  suffice 
to  state  that  when  the  substitute  ordinance  as  amended 
came  before  the  Council  for  final  action  January  2,  1900, 
the  Council,  the  mayor  and  the  city  clerk  had  been  en 
joined  "from  signing,  engrossing,  passing,  amending, 
voting  on,  publishing,  approving,  or  enforcing"  the  said 
proposed  ordinance,  or  any  similar  ordinance.  The 
mayor,  the  city  clerk,  and  twenty-five  of  the  forty-two 
aldermen,  advised  by  counsel  learned  in  the  law  that  they 
were  acting  legislatively  in  passing  upon  the  ordinance, 
that  no  court  had  jurisdiction  over  the  matter,  that  the 
injunction  was  void  and  no  penalty  could  be  inflicted  for 
its  alleged  violation,  paid  no  heed  to  the  injunction.  The 
ordinance  was  passed  by  the  vote  of  the  twenty-five 
favoring  aldermen,  and  the  mayor  signed  it  forthwith. 
The  Supreme  Court  held  that  the  court  below  had  no  au 
thority  to  enjoin  its  passage. 

But,  although  nine-tenths  of  the  business  men  of  Mil 
waukee  favored  the  ordinance,  immediately  a  loud  cry  of 
bribery  was  heard,  a  cry  which  indeed  began  soon  after 
the  negotiations  opened,  a  cry  which  has  not  yet  ceased 
to  be  heard,  a  cry  which  it  is  yet  to  be  discovered  had 


*See  The  State  ex  rel  Rose  v.  Superior  Court  of  Milwaukee 
County,  105  Wisconsin  651;  State  ex  rel.  City  of  Milwaukee  v.  Lud~ 
wig,  Judge,  106  Wisconsin  226;  Linden  Land  Company  v.The  Mil 
waukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company,  107  Wisconsin  493. 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  71 

cause  to  be  heard,  a  cry  which,  considering  the  advantages 
which  the  city  reaped  from  the  ordinance,  was  absurd. 
Let  some  of  these  advantages,  resulting  in  large  part  from 
Mr.  Payne's  labors,  pass  briefly  in  review : 

1.  The  ordinance  fixed  a  uniform  time  for  the  ex 
piration  of  the  franchises  of  all  the  different  roads  com 
posing  the  system.     Prior  thereto,  some  of  the  franchises 
were  to  expire  July  i,  1924,  and  franchises  covering  fif 
teen  miles  of  principal  streets  of  the  city  were  perpetual  in 
duration. 

2.  Transfers  which,  prior  to  the  passage  of  this  ordi 
nance  were  a  courtesy,  became  now  an  obligation  beyond 
recall.     As  forty-five  per  centum  of  passengers  demand  a 
transfer  this  is  an  item  of  no  little  moment. 

3.  Firemen  and  police  officers  in  uniform  and  de 
tectives  in  the  police  service  ride  free  of  charge. 

4.  Electricity    is    furnished    free    of  charge  for  the 
operation  of  the  bridges — an  item  of  saving  to  the  city 
of  not  less  than  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  yearly. 

5.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  former  ordinances 
the  city  had  no  right  to  regulate  the  setting  of  poles,  the 
stringing  of  wires,  the  opening  of  street  pavements,  the 
extension  of  lines,  or  other  matters  of  public  importance. 
Such  acts  as  these  were  mere  naked  grants,  in  the  main, 
effectual  only  so  long  as  the  grantees  elected  to  use  them. 
The  new  ordinance  reserves  to  the  city  rigorous  control 
of  these  and  kindred  matters. 

6.  A  four-cent  fare  became  obligatory  under  a  ticket 
system  during  certain  hours  of  the  day,  to  cover  the  entire 
day  after  January  i,  1905.     During  the  month  of  Feb 
ruary,  1906,  the  average  daily  use  of  four-cent  tickets  was 


72  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:    A  LIFE 

134,906,  a  daily  saving  to  passengers  of  $1,349.06;  a 
yearly  saving  of  $492,406.90.  Half  fare  for  children  be 
tween  three  and  ten  years  of  age  and  free  transportation 
for  children  under  three  years  became  also  obligatory. 

7.  The  road  became  bound  to  press  on  its  lines  as 
extensions  of  the  city  limits  should  be  made,   the  fare 
within  the  limits,  however  far  extended,  to  be  no  more 
than  five  cents. 

8.  The  extension  ordinance  having  unified  the  sys 
tem,  the  management  could  never  disintegrate  the  system 
into  its  units  and  require  a  separate  fare  from  each  unit. 

9.  The  road  with  its  longer  lease  of  life  became  more 
than  ever  willing  to  make  improvements  and  better  the 
system — a  result  which  has  followed. 

If  it  be  claimed  that  this  long  recital  is  foreign  to  the 
purpose  of  this  biography,  the  reply  is  that  the  charge  of 
bribing  was  insinuated  particularly  against  Mr.  Payne. 
This  bcok  makes  bold  to  assert  that  not  the  slightest  proof 
of  this  charge  has  ever  been  presented,  that  no  proof  ever 
can  be  presented,  that  there  is  not  an  atom  of  foundation 
for  the  charge,  and  that  the  supporters  of  this  ordinance 
by  favoring  it  did  their  bounden  righteous  duty  to  the 
city  of  Milwaukee  and  to  the  patrons  of  the  street  railway. 

At  the  risk  of  repetition,  perhaps  at  the  risk  of  urging 
too  partial  an  opinion  of  Mr.  Payne,  I  cannot  forbear  a 
lengthy  expression  from  Mr.  AVilliam  L.  Mason,  who  in 
1891  became  in  Milwaukee  the  auditor  of  the  Milwaukee 
Street  Railway  Company.  These  paragraphs  are  one  of 
many  evidences  that,  although  the  populace,  deceived  by 
clamor,  might  deride  Mr.  Payne  as  a  politician,  a  monop 
olist,  the  head  of  a  soulless  corporation,  one  had  but  to  be 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  73 


near  him,  to  be  associated  with  him,  to  know  that  he  was 
not  a  monster,  but  really  a  human  being",  and  a  being-  with 
a  warm  heart  and  a  lovable  disposition. 

During  the  winter  of  1890-91,  while  on  a  visit  to  Washington,  D. 
C,  I  was  called  to  New  York  to  meet  Mr.  Henry  Villard  by  the 
offer  of  a  position  to  represent  in  Milwaukee,  the  New  York  in 
terests  of  the  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Lighting  Company. 
There  I  first  met  the  Honorable  Henry  C.  Payne.  After  concluding 
arrangements  with  Mr.  Villard  to  our  mutual  satisfaction,  I  was 
introduced  to  Mr.  Payne,  who  was  at  that  time  Vice-President  and 
General  Manager  of  the  Milwaukee  Company,  and  there  began  a 
personal  friendship  between  us,  which  grew  more  and  more  intimate 
throughout  the  eight  years  of  my  connection  with  the  company 
and  which  lasted  until  his  death. 

The  duties  of  my  office  brought  me  into  consultation  with  Mr. 
Payne  many  times  each  day,  and  often  all  day,  so  that  my  oppor 
tunities  for  observing  his  characteristics  as  a  man,  and  an  officer 
of  the  company  were  exceptional.  Through  all  the  wear  and  worry 
and  hard  work  of  the  construction  period,  at  a  time  when  electric 
street  railway  construction  was  almost  in  its  infancy,  and  there  were 
scarcely  any  precedents  for  his  guidance,  Mr.  Payne  kept  a  firm, 
capable  hand  upon  the  helm,  and  guided  the  undertaking  to  a  most 
successful  issue,  both  mechanical  and  financial. 

He  was  constantly  called  upon  to  decide  new  and  important 
questions,  and  at  very  short  notice. 

While,  of  course,  the  thousand  and  one  details  in  the  different 
departments  of  construction  were  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  experts,  yet  the  experts  often  disagreed,  and  there  would  be 
immediate  reference  to  Mr.  Payne.  My  attention  was  first  attracted 
to  his  remarkable  ability  to  listen  to  details  and  instantly  grasp  the 
results  to  which  they  led.  He  was  not  in  any  sense  an  expert 
accountant,  and  yet  on  very  many  occasions,  when  complicated 
propositions  were  submitted  to  him  by  the  accountants,  requiring 
hours  of  patient  figuring  on  their  part  to  determine  what  the  actual 
results  would  be,  I  have  known  him  to  decide  the  moment  he  was 
in  possession  of  the  main  conditions,  which  of  two  or  three  different 
methods  of  procedure  would  be  for  the  advantage  of  the  company 
and  invariably  later  demonstrations  would  prove  that  he  was  right. 
I  have  frequently  observed  the  same  thing  in  the  mechanical  and 
electrical  departments,  although  he  was  neither  an  electrical  nor 
mechanical  expert ;  he  frequently  excited  the  wonder  of  those  who 
were  experts,  by  his  quick  and  comprehensive  grasp  of  the  subject 
brought  to  his  attention  and  his  almost  invariably  successful  solution 
of  the  problem  involved. 


74  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

In  addition  to  the  difficulties  of  organization  and  construction 
ordinarily  attendant  upon  such  an  undertaking,  he  was  beset  by 
opposition  in  the  state  legislature,  opposition  at  the  city  hall,  and 
opposition  among  the  citizens  and  in  the  newspapers,  inspired  by 
political  differences,  by  ignorance  of  the  actual  situation,  and  even  by 
fabrication.  He  met  all  this  with  unruffled  front,  and,  ignoring  abuse, 
quietly  and  persistingly  opposing  ignorance  and  untruth  with  facts 
and  figures,  insisting  with  quiet  courtesy  on  justice  and  fair  play,  he 
at  last  won  the  fight  against  bitter  odds,  and  to-day  the  Milwaukee 
Company,  one  of  the  best  equipped  and  most  successful  electric  rail 
way  lighting  companies  in  the  country,  and  one  of  which  Milwaukee 
is  very  proud,  is  a  magnificent  monument  to  the  remarkable  powers 
of  organization,  and  to  the  splendid  ability  of  Henry  C.  Payne. 

One  great  source  of  Mr.  Payne's  power  lay  in  his  influence  over 
men,  both  individually  and  in  assembly.  During  the  seething,  sensi 
tive  days  of  a  bitter  strike,  which  had  been  caused  solely  by  circum 
stances  and  conditions  over  which  Mr.  Payne  had  no  control,  I  have 
seen  a  committee  of  conductors  and  motormen  enter  Mr.  Payne's 
room,  by  appointment,  for  a  conference.  I  have  heard  them  utter 
their  grievances  in  bitter  language  and  with  angry  looks  and  voices. 
An  hour  later  I  have  seen  that  same  committee  leave  the  room  with 
smiling  faces  and  pleasant  words,  although  no  promises  had  been 
made  on  the  part  of  the  company,  and  no  change  in  the  conditions 
been  agreed  upon.  It  was  all  accomplished  by  the  open,  frank, 
courteous  way  in  which  they  were  met,  and  conditions  explained  to 
them  by  Mr.  Payne  and  the  unhesitating  belief  of  the  men  in  the  truth 
of  his  statements.  All  the  employes  of  the  company  with  whom  I 
came  in  contact,  spoke  in  warm  terms  of  his  invariable  kindness  arid 
courtesy,  and  expressed  the  highest  appreciation  of  his  ability. 

It  was  impossible  to  be  associated  with  Mr.  Payne  for  any 
length  of  time  without  loving  him.  He  was  always  the  same,  not 
one  thing  one  day  and  something  else  the  next.  One  always  knew 
where  to  find  him.  His  manner  was  frank,  open,  and  full  of  a  manly 
bonhomie  that  was  fascinating  in  the  highest  degree,  and  drew  their 
very  best  efforts,  from  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  Those  of 
us  who  worked  through  those  eight  years  from  1890  to  1898  in  close 
relation  with  him,  know  full  well  his  sterling  qualities. 

A  man  of  generous  impulses,  of  kindness  of  heart,  of  invariable 
courtesy,  full  of  strength  and  encouragement  in  time  of  trouble, 
never  speaking  evil  of  any  of  those  by  whom  he  was  vilified  and 
abused,  he  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  hewing  straight  to  the 
line,  faithfully  fulfilling  his  duty  as  he  saw  it,  and  followed  by  the 
admiration  of  all  his  associates  who  knew  him  well,  and  by  the  love 
of  those  who  knew  him  best. 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  75 


There  should  also  be  preserved  the  following  lines 
from  Mr.  Charles  A.  Spofforcl,  of  New  York  City,  until 
recently  the  Secretary,  in  New  York,  of  The  Milwaukee 
Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company : 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Payne  was  in  1890,  when  Mr. 
Henry  Villard  became  interested  in  the  union  of  certain  Milwaukee 
street  railways  into  what  became  known  as  the  Milwaukee  Street 
Railway  Company,  and  which  subsequently  developed  into  the  pres 
ent  The  Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company.  Mr.  Payne 
was  the  leader  of  this  enterprise  in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and 
ably  directed  all  of  its  departments.  To  his  genius  for  organization, 
constructive  ability  and  efficient  management  are  due  the  conspicu 
ous  success  of  this  undertaking,  with  which  he  was  identified  so 
many  years.  Not  only  were  his  mind  and  energies  enlisted,  but  his 
heart  was  in  this  work,  as  was  the  case  with  everything  he  under 
took.  Without  attempting  to  recall  the  many  problems  with  which 
he  wrestled  in  this  connection,  and  the  many  serious  obstacles  which 
he  overcame,  I  will  mention  how  deeply  impressed  I  was,  and  shall 
always  be,  with  his  admirable  attitude  and  conduct  during  the 
strike  and  boycott  of  the  motormen  and  conductors.  I  was  in  Mil 
waukee  at  the  time,  and  was  a  witness  of  the  true  courage  and  gen 
eralship  which  he  displayed  throughout  the  contest.  He  never 
wavered,  and  was  always  at  the  front,  although  the  vindictive  spirit 
shown  against  Mr.  Payne  personally,  in  his  home  city,  because  of  his 
stout  advocacy  of  his  company's  legal  rights,  rose  to  such  a  pitch 
that  he  was  hung  in  effigy  in  the  streets. 

There  was  a  number  of  crises  in  the  history  of  this  project.  At 
each  of  these  periods  Mr.  Payne  invariably  rose  to  the  occasion,  and 
carried  the  company  triumphantly  through.  His  exhaustive  knowl 
edge  of  the  geography  of  Milwaukee  and  its  suburbs  lent  great 
value  to  his  suggestions  concerning  extensions  of  routes,  or  altera 
tions  of  lines  to  meet  new  conditions. 

His  associates  had  the  highest  appreciation  of  his  remarkable 
capacity  as  an  organizer  and  administrator,  and  his  counsel  and  ad 
vice  were  greatly  esteemed  by  them.  He  possessed  their  entire  con 
fidence,  and  was  always  faithful  to  the  interests  entrusted  to  him. 

Mr.  Payne  possessed  that  quality  of  character  which,  having 
once  espoused  a  cause,  made  him  work  for  it  zealously  and  increas 
ingly.  His  stanch  loyalty  to  trusts  reposed  in  him  was  not  confined 
to  business,  but  was  shown  in  the  wider  field  of  the  politics  of  the 
country.  In  these  activities  of  his  life  I  was  but  an  onlooker,  but 
I  shared  the  admiration  of  his  other  friends  at  the  keen  insight, 
excellent  judgment,  practical  common  sense  and  unremitting  labor 
that  enabled  him  to  achieve  such  distinguished  honors. 


76  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Mr.  Charles  D.  Wyman,  already  mentioned  as  gen 
eral  manager  of  the  Milwaukee  Street  Railway  Company 
in  1893,  has  thus  written  concerning  the  subject  of  this 
biography : 

In  1893,  at  the  time  I  became  its  manager,  the  Milwaukee  Street 
Railway  had,  under  Mr.  Payne's  management  and  in  accordance  with 
plans  of  which  he  was  the  author,  completed  the  consolidation  of 
the  various  street  railroad  lines  in  the  city,  including  also  an  electric 
lighting  system,  and  had,  at  great  expense,  changed  the  form  of 
traction  from  horse  to  electricity.  The  application  of  electric  traction 
to  street  railroads  had  hardly  passed  the  experimental  period  at  that 
time,  the  Milwaukee  Company  being  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  adop 
tion  of  this  form  of  street  traction,  and  the  changing  over  of  the 
street  roads  in  the  city  had  necessarily  been  accompanied  by  more  or 
less  of  experimental  work  entailing  very  large  construction  costs. 

Before  the  improvements  to  the  company's  equipment  were 
entirely  completed  and  while  large  sums  of  money  were  still  neces 
sary  to  make  extensions,  relay  track  and  build  additional  buildings 
suited  to  its  work,  a  financial  panic  in  the  city  occurred  which  re 
sulted  in  the  failure  of  several  banks,  and  thus,  owing  to  the  de 
pression  in  the  general  business  of  the  city,  the  income  of  the  com 
pany  did  not  show  the  anticipated  increase  upon  which  had  been 
predicated  the  large  investment  involved  in  the  change  of  the  street 
roads  from  horse  power  to  electricity.  This  condition  forced  upon 
the  company  a  situation  which  taxed  to  the  utmost  the  skill,  enthu 
siasm  and  patience  of  its  directors  and  officials,  and  naturally,  to 
one  just  entering  the  company's  service,  ambitious  of  success  and 
reputation,  was  somewhat  disheartening;  but  Mr.  Payne  as  Vice- 
President  continued  to  actively  assist  in  the  promotion  of  the  com 
pany's  plans — even  in  the  matter  of  details,  counseling  and  suggest 
ing,  and  always  in  a  most  kindly  and  cheering  way.  During  these 
dark  days  he  was  a  tower  of  strength  and  stimulation  to  his  sub 
ordinates,  and  it  was  largely  due  to  his  unswerving  faith  in  the 
future  development  of  the  company's  business  that  the  enterprise 
was  sustained  and  ultimately  established  upon  a  profitable  basis. 

One  of  the  most  perplexing  features  to  the  company's  manage 
ment  at  that  time  was  the  labor  situation.  In  his  conduct  of  its 
affairs,  Mr.  Payne  had  cultivated  pleasant  relations  with  all  the  em 
ployes,  taking  a  personal  interest  in  their  life  and  surroundings,  apart 
from  that  simply  connected  with  their  employment  by  the  company. 
He  was  proud  of  the  fact  that  very  many  of  the  conductors  and 
motormen,  as  well  as  those  employed  in  other  capacities,  had  been 
able  to  purchase  their  own  homes  and  in  other  ways  had  become 


CONCERNING  STREET  RAILWAYS  77 

forehanded,  and  the  habit  of  saving  and  properly  investing  he  had 
urged  and  promoted  in  every  way  in  his  power,  advising  and  assist 
ing  his  employes  in  their  endeavors  to  secure  for  themselves  a 
modest  competency. 

Although  for  some  time  a  union  had  existed,  by  being  thoroughly 
in  touch  with  his  men  and  having  their  respect  and  confidence,  he 
had  prevented  radical  demands  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  and 
avoided,  therefore,  a  clash  which  he  felt  must  redound  to  the  injury 
both  of  the  employer  and  the  employe.  Unfortunately,  as  is  often 
the  case  in  union  organizations  like  those  prevalent  on  street  rail 
ways,  the  counsels  of  the  conservative  and  steady-going  among  the 
employes  were,  as  the  years  passed,  less  heeded,  and  in  1896  the 
union,  under  the  advice  of  outside  labor  agitators  and  local  leaders 
who  desired  to  promote  their  own  personal  advancement,  made  de 
mands  which  amounted  practically  to  the  turning  over  of  the  com 
pany  to  their  organization  for  management.  A  scale  of  wages  was 
asked  which  it  wras  impossible  in  justice  to  pay,  and,  farther,  the 
company  was  required  to  employ  only  such  men  as  the  union  would 
approve,  and  to  discharge  such  men  as  it  considered  inimical  to  or 
negligent  of  its  organization. 

In  this  crisis  Mr.  Payne  exhibited  to  me  in  the  most  striking 
manner  the  rare  judicial  quality  of  his  reasoning,  coupled  with  the 
kindliness  which  always  characterized  his  action  toward  everyone. 
In  our  discussions  regarding  the  matter  he  iterated  and  reiterated 
to  me  that  the  company  must  be  absolutely  just  and  fair  in  its  deal 
ing  with  its  employes  and  resist  every  inclination  to  be  autocratic  or 
peremptory.  He  wished  every  measure  adopted  that  would  show  to 
the  men  that  the  union  leaders  in  their  policy  were  mistaken  and 
selfish,  and  that  the  result  of  such  a  policy  must  certainly  be  personal 
suffering  and  privation,  loss  of  wages  and  perhaps  homes,  to  a  large 
number  of  the  employes.  While  as  Vice-President  and  Managing 
Director  of  the  company  he  endeavored  to  avoid  the  issue  on  ac 
count  of  the  loss  it  would  entail  to  the  interests  he  had  in  charge, 
and  while  as  a  citizen  he  gravely  deplored  and  sought  in  every  way 
possible  to  avoid  the  injury  likely  to  result  from  a  strike  to  the 
general  business  interests  of  the  city,  his  especial  regret  was  that 
many  of  the  workmen  would  be  losers  and  suffer  from  the  clash 
imminent.  His  advice  was  always,  "Do  everything  possible,  even 
to  the  verge  of  injustice  to  the  company,  to  avoid  a  rupture  which 
would  ultimately  bring  suffering  to  so  many  of  the  faithful,  but 
mistaken  workers." 

Holding  as  he  did  a  commanding  position  in  the  Republican 
party  of  his  rtate  and  of  the  country,  his  connection  with  the  com 
pany  was,  during  the  writer's  term  of  office,  made  the  occasion  of 


78  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

many  an  attack  upon  him  through  the  newspapers  by  those  who 
sought  to  weaken  his  influence  and  injure  his  position  as  a  politician 
by  urging  that  he  was  a  "corporation  man,"  and  therefore  necessarily 
untrue  to  the  city's  interests  and  to  those  of  the  public  at  large,  and 
when  the  labor  difficulties  arose  these  attacks  were  more  virulent  and 
pronounced.  He  was  made  a  target  of  abuse  by  the  labor  papers 
especially,  and  by  many  of  those  whom  he  had  formerly  counted 
among  his  friends.  Some  pronounced  openly  against  him,  while 
others,  actuated  by  their  feebly  disguised  envy  and  jealousy,  couched 
their  threats  under  the  form  of  advice.  He,  however,  was  unmoved 
by  public  clamor,  but  held  to  the  policy  of  justice  equally  to  the 
interests  of  the  company  and  the  men,  and  of  fairness  but  firmness 
in  the  carrying  into  effect  of  such  a  policy.  Not  hastily,  but  after 
long  and  careful  consultation,  it  was  decided  that  the  company  could 
not  accede  to  the  demands  of  the  union,  and,  if  a  strike  was  necessary, 
would  endure  it. 

The  greatest  railroad  strike  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  ever  oc 
curred  in  the  country,  began  consequent  upon  this  decision  in  May, 
1896,  and  for  weeks,  nay,  months,  the  fight  went  on.  It  was  during 
these  trying  times  that  Mr.  Payne's  strong  will,  judicial  but  firm, 
loyalty  to  principles  and  faithfulness  to  his  duty  were  exhibited  to 
the  writer  in  most  striking  colors.  With  the  officials  of  the  com 
pany  placarded  in  newspapers  and  subjected  by  the  journals  that 
catered  to  the  laboring  element  to  all  sorts  of  denunciations  and 
offensive  characterizations,  in  spite  of  the  pressure  from  political 
friends  in  the  state  and  in  the  country  who  prophesied  that  the  effect 
of  the  strike  would  be  to  very  seriously  injure  the  Republican  party, 
he  followed  unwaveringly  the  policy  which  he  had  decided  was  right, 
and  in  which  he  had  the  support  of  his  co-officials  and  directors,  since 
it  appealed  to  them  as  just  and  fair. 

Recalling  the  incidents  of  those  months  of  labor  and  perplexity, 
of  loss  to  the  company,  and  of  suffering  to  the  men,  of  injury  to 
the  business  interests  of  the  city,  of  violence  and  rioting  on  the  part 
of  the  union  and  its  adherents,  I  cannot  repress  my  appreciation, 
even  wonder,  at  the  burden,  political  and  business,  which  Mr.  Payne 
bore  so  uncomplainingly,  so  strongly  and  so  persistently. 

Mr.  Payne  continued  as  vice-president  of  The  Mil 
waukee  Electric  Railway  and  Light  Company  until,  in 
1901,  the  sphere  of  his  activities  having  been  transferred 
to  the  capital  of  the  United  States,  he  withdrew  from  all 
active  connection  with  street  railway  affairs. 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RECEIVERSHIP  79 


CHAPTER  X 


Cfie  H2ortf)ern  pacific  Kecertiersfnp 

Coincident  with  Mr.  Payne's  early  experience  in 
directing  a  local  electric  road  was  his  larger  experience  in 
managing  a  great  steam  road. 

The  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  was  organ 
ized  July  2,  1864,  by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States* 
to  construct  a  railroad  and  telegraph  line  from  Lake  Su 
perior  to  Puget  Sound,  with  the  assistance  of  an  extensive 
land  grant.  The  road  was  finished  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  the  act  and  in  1893,  was  being  operated 
for  a  distance  of  more  than  two  thousand  miles,  from 
Ashland  in  Wisconsin  to  Portland  in  Oregon  and  Ta- 
coma  in  Washington,  with  3,840,000  acres  of  its  grant 
still  in  possession.  On  April  i,  1890,  this  road  had 
leased  the  lines  of  railroad  from  Saint  Paul  and  Ashland 
to  Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  which  were  then  owned  by 
the  Wisconsin  Central  Railroad  Company  and  by  the 
Wisconsin  Central  Railway  Company  and  on  August  15, 
1893,  tne  Northern  Pacific  was  operating  the  Wisconsin 
Central  lines  under  this  lease. 

But  on  the  last  date  named  the  Northern  Pacific,  suf 
fering  under  the  general  depression  growing  out  of  "the 
panic  of  1893,"  was  insolvent,  and  Mr.  P.  B.  Winston 
and  other  creditors  began  proceedings  against  the  insol- 

*I3  United  States  Statutes  at  Large  365. 


80  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

vent  in  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Wis 
consin.  Mr.  James  G.  Jenkins,  already  mentioned  in  this 
narrative,  was  the  circuit  judge,  having  been  commis 
sioned  March  23,  1893.  The  result  of  the  proceedings 
thus  initiated  was  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Payne,  Mr. 
Thomas  F.  Oakes  and  Mr.  Henry  C.  Rouse  as  receivers 
of  all  the  property  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Company,  in 
cluding  the  leased  lines  just  mentioned.  Forthwith  in  all 
the  other  judicial  districts  in  which  this  road  had  prop 
erty  was  made  the  same  appointment  of  receivers,  the  in 
solvent  consenting  thereto. 

Subsequently  on  September  26,  1893,  tne  receivers  be 
ing  in  default  for  rent  due  to  the  lessors  of  the  leased  lines, 
obeyed  an  order  of  the  Circuit  Court  and  surrendered 
these  lines  to  the  lessors  which  had  canceled  the  leases  for 
the  non-payment. 

On  October  18,  1893,  the  proceedings  already  under 
taken  were  complicated  by  the  Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust 
Company  of  New  York,  which  was  the  trustee  named  in 
trust  deeds  made  to  it  by  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company.  The  trustee  filed  a  bill  to  foreclose  these  trust 
deeds  in  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Wis 
consin.  So  far  as  possible  this  Court  unraveled  the  com 
plication  by  making  the  receivers  parties  to  the  foreclosure 
suit,  and  consolidating  that  suit  with  the  proceedings  un 
der  the  creditors'  bill. 

While  the  lawyers  were  handling  this  matter  in  the 
courts  there  was  an  increasing  depression  in  the  trans 
portation  business,  the  earnings  were  rapidly  falling  off, 
and  there  was  necessity  for  great  retrenchment  in  operat 
ing  expenses.  To  meet  this  situation  the  receivers  or 
dered  a  wholesale  reduction  in  the  salaries  and  wages  of 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RECEIVERSHIP  81 

employes.  This  reduction  was  resented  by  the  affected 
parties  who,  aside  from  the  loss  of  income,  claimed  that 
the  rates  in  force  when  the  receivers  took  possession  con 
stituted  contracts  between  the  receivers  and  the  employes, 
terminable  only  by  the  consent  of  the  latter. 

Discontent  and  opposition  became  rife  among  the  em 
ployes  to  such  an  extent  that  on  December  19,  1893,  and 
December  22,  1893,  the  receivers  appeared  in  the  Federal 
Circuit  Court  and  sought  an  order  authorizing  them  to  put 
in  operation  on  January  I,  1894,  a  revised  schedule  of  re 
duced  wages.  They  prayed  also  for  an  injunction  re 
straining  threatened  destructive  and  embarrassing  action 
of  the  employes,  either  individually  or  as  combinations, 
conspiring  either  among  themselves  or  by  the  aid  of  com 
mittees  of  orders,  brotherhoods  and  mutual  aid  associa 
tions. 

The  injunctions  which  issued  on  those  two  December 
dates,  along  the  lines  prayed  for  by  the  receivers,  were 
very  far  reaching  in  their  results  and  were  seriously  at 
tacked  not  only  by  the  advocates  of  the  workmen,  but  by 
the  workmen  themselves,  by  various  labor  organizations 
and  by  individuals  who  saw  in  the  enjoining  orders  the 
subversion  of  personal  liberty  and  menaces  to  the  dignity 
of  labor.  To  comment  upon  these  injunctions  at  length 
would  be  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  writing.*  The 
dissatisfied  employes  appealed  from  the  decision  of  Judge 
Jenkins  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  where  the  entire 
important  subject  was  argued  at  great  length. f 

*The  text  of  the  injunctions  and  the  opinion  of  Judge  Jenkins 
upholding  their  legality,  filed  April  6,  1894,  will  be  found  in 
Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Company  v.  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  60  Federal  Reporter  803. 

fSee  Arthur  v.  Oakes,  63  Federal  Reporter  310. 


82  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

The  appellate  court  on  October  i,  1894,  modified 
the  restraining  order  in  two  particulars :  Firstly,  by  re 
quiring  it  to  describe  the  nature  of  the  strikes  intended 
to  be  enjoined,  limiting  them  to  strikes  designed  to  cripple 
physically  the  trust  property,  or  actually  obstruct  the  re 
ceivers  in  operating  the  road,  or  interfere  with  the  em 
ployes  who  did  not  wish  to  quit,  or  to  prevent  by  intimi 
dation  or  other  wrongful  modes,  or  by  any  device,  the 
employment  of  others  to  take  the  places  of  those  quitting; 
secondly,  by  eliminating  from  the  injunction  any  order 
which  would  prevent  the  workmen  without  combination 
or  conspiracy,  "from  so  quitting  the  service  of  the  said 
receivers  as  to  cripple  the  property  or  prevent  or  hinder 
the  operation  of  the  said  railroad." 

It  is  that  portion  of  the  injunction  which  the  appellate 
court  thus  modified  and  weakened  which  opened  upon  the 
head  of  Judge  Jenkins  vials  of  bitter  invective,  and  which 
has  led  demagogues  even  now*  to  vituperate  and  assail 
him.  Such  attacks  were  most  unjust.  There  is  no  wiser 
lawyer  than  Judge  Jenkins.  He  never  doubted  or  denied 
the  inherent  right  of  laborers  to  work  or  to  quit.  But  in 
this  particular  instance  he  had  in  charge  a  railway  some 
thousands  of  miles  in  extent,  traversing  seven  states,  en 
gaged  in  interstate  commerce,  carrying  the  United  States 
mails  and  employing  some  twelve  thousand  men  who 
were  in  fact  the  court's  officers,  and  responsible  to  it. 
Every  consideration  of  faithfulness  to  his  official  oath 
required  him  to  conserve  this  property,  to  continue  its 


*See  the  speech  of  Senator  Benjamin  R.  Tillman  of  South  Caro 
lina  in  the  Senate,  Congressional  Record  May  3,  1906,  page  6397, 
citing  a  report  adverse  to  Judge  Jenkins  made  by  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  the  spring  of  1894. 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RECEIVERSHIP  83 

usefulness  to  the  government  and  the  public,  to  nurse  its 
resources,  to  assist  in  restoring  it  a  solvent  entity  to  its 
owners,  and  to  point  to  its  busy,  undisturbed  stretch  of 
road  as  a  means  to  soothe  the  surrounding  universal  finan 
cial  disturbance  and  popular  unrest.  To  compel  the  em 
ployes  to  assist  him  and  the  receivers  in  such  a  duty,  if  an 
invasion  of  personal  rights  was  an  invasion  that  fully 
arose  to  the  dignity  of  a  virtue.* 

And  what  had  been  the  practical  result  of  the  issuance 
of  these  December  injunctions?  Peace  and  quiet  on  the 
part  of  the  men ;  undisturbed  performance  of  their  duties 
by  the  receivers,  Messrs.  Payne,  Rouse  and  Oakes.  Strikes 
were  spreading  throughout  the  whole  country,  while  the 
paralleling  Great  Northern  Railroad  was  in  constant  tur 
moil.  The  Northern  Pacific,  so  far  as  the  receivers  and  the 
employes  were  concerned,  industriously  attended  to  busi 
ness.  When,  in  October,  1894,  the  appellate  court  was 
ready  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  the  injunctions  the 
exigency  which  brought  them  to*  birth  had  passed  and  the 
orders  could  well  be  modified  into  innocuousness. 

The  usefulness  of  the  government  control  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  system  was  shown  in  April,  1894,  dur 
ing  the  excitements  caused  by  the  so-called  Coxeyites. 
While  "General"  Coxey  with  his  motley  throng  was 
marching  upon  the  nation's  capital,  other  "generals"  in 
the  west  were  emulating  his  example.  One  of  these, 
"General"  Hogan,  with  about  six  hundred  followers  in- 


*For  essays  of  law  writers  upon  the  decision  of  Judge  Jenkins 
and  upon  "government  by  injunction,"  see  28  American  Law  Review 
269;  50  Albany  Law  Journal  140;  n  Harvard  Law  Review  487;  97 
Law  Times,  (London)  384.  These  papers  open  up  the  court  de 
cisions  likewise. 


84  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

vaded  the  tracks  of  the  Northern  Pacific  in  Montana,  and 
on  April  24,  1894,  seized  a  train.  Upon  notification  to  the 
government  through  Mr.  John  W.  Kendrick,  the  general 
manager  of  the  road,  Colonel  John  H.  Page  and  four 
companies  of  United  States  troops  started  in  pursuit, 
intercepted  the  lawless  band  at  Forsythe,  Montana,  and 
on  April  30  the  entire  "army"  was  in  camp  under  military 
guard  at  Helena,  Montana.  Mr.  Kendrick's  promptness 
in  ridding  the  system  of  this  mob  and  incidentally  in 
warning  lawless  agitators  to  keep  away,  received  Mr. 
Payne's  warm  approval. 

Meanwhile  the  receivers  were  not  neglecting  their  ad 
ministrative  duties.  On  April  16,  1894,  Mr.  Payne  was 
elected  the  president  of  the  Chicago  and  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad.  On  the  same  day  the  Chicago  and  Calumet 
Railroad  passed  under  his  presidential  charge.  The  ob 
ject  of  this  action  was  to  obtain  in  the  city  of  Chicago 
terminals  for  the  Northern  Pacific  system  under  its  own 
control. 

But  the  litigation  over  the  indebtedness  of  the  North 
ern  Pacific  continued.  On  August  7,  1895,  the  Railroad 
Company  appeared  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United 
States  for  the  district  of  Washington  and  filed  charges 
against  the  receivers  in  respect  of  the  methods  of  their 
appointment  and  of  the  administration  of  their  trust.  The 
receivers  voluntarily  appeared  and  answered  to  the  ques 
tion  of  jurisdiction,  asserting  the  ample  authority  of  the 
court  which  originally  appointed  them.  This  assertion 
was  fully  vindicated  by  Justices  Field,  Harlan  and 
Brewer,  justices  of  the  sixth,  eighth  and  ninth  circuits, 
and  acceded  to  by  Justice  Brown  of  the  seventh  circuit, 


THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RECEIVERSHIP  85 

all  of  them  recognizing  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  Eastern 
District  of  Wisconsin  as  the  court  of  primary  jurisdic 
tion.* 

As  to  the  charges  filed  against  them,  the  receivers,  be 
ing  in  no  mood  for  a  lengthy  investigation  in  the  State  of 
Washington,  filed  their  resignations  as  receivers  in  the 
court  of  primary  jurisdiction.  After  the  report  of  the 
receivers,  together  with  the  accounts  of  their  receivership, 
had  been  submitted  to  that  court,  had  been  carefully  and 
laboriously  examined  and  had  been  fully  approved,  the 
resignations  were  accepted  September  27,  1895.  The 
further  vicissitudes  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  do 
not  concern  this  narrative,  t 


^Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Company  v.  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  72  Federal  Reporter  26. 

fAs  to  the  chief  actors  in  the  events  mentioned  in  this  chapter : 
Thomas  Fletcher  Oakes  resides  in  Concord,  Massachusetts,  with  an 
office  in  the  city  of  New  York;  Henry  Clark  Rouse  died  at  his 
residence  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  April  30,  1906;  Peter  M.  Arthur,  a 
Scotchman  by  birth,  died  in  Cleveland,  in  1903 ;  Mr.  Kendrick 
is  still  living  in  Chicago,  Illinois ;  Judge  James  G.  Jenkins,  having 
reached  retirement  age,  resigned  from  the  bench  February  23,  1905. 
On  November  i,  1906,  he  was  appointed  by  Judge  Alton  B.  Parker, 
president  of  the  American  Bar  Association,  one  of  a  committee  of 
nine  American  lawyers  to  draft  a  code  of  professional  ethics  for  the 
Association. 


86  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XI 


Hater  elections  anD  tfte  St.  Hotiis  Contention 

The  last  reference  to  Mr.  Payne  in  connection  with 
elections  had  to  do  with  the  mayoralty  campaign  in  Mil 
waukee  in  the  spring  of  1885.  This  biography  need  detail 
no  further  the  particulars  of  each  succeeding  contest.  The 
state,  county  and  city  having  now  become  Republican, 
sound  judgment  and  sagacity  were  alone  necessary  to 
maintain  them  so. 

When  the  summer  of  1888  arrived  Mr.  Payne  was  a 
delegate  at  large  to  the  convention  of  the  Republican 
party  which  nominated  Benjamin  Harrison  for  the  presi 
dency.  At  the  election  which  followed  in  November, 
Mr.  Harrison's  plurality  over  his  opponent,  Mr.  Cleve 
land,  in  Wisconsin  was  21,321  votes. 

The  legislature  chosen  at  the  same  election  sympa 
thized  in  politics  with  the  national  administration.  But 
a  measure  introduced  into  that  body  in  good  faith  by  a 
Democrat,  and  enacted,  placed  the  dominant  party  tempo 
rarily  in  eclipse.  Mr.  Michael  J.  Bennett,  of  Iowa 
County,  was  the  author  of  the  measure  in  question,  which 
became  a  law  by  the  signature  of  Governor  Hoard  and  by 
publication  April  27,  1889,  which  is  Chapter  519  of  the 
laws  of  that  year  and  which  is  entitled  An  act  concerning 
the  education  and  employment  of  children. 

This  legislation,  familiarly  known  as  the  Bennett  Law 
and  having  for  its  object  the  betterment  of  youth,  was 


LATER  ELECTIONS  87 


honestly  believed  by  the  Lutherans  and  Roman  Catholics 
to  aim  a  blow  at  the  vitals  of  their  parochial  schools — a 
belief  which  the  Democrats  cleverly  nursed  for  political 
purposes.  The  Republicans,  in  opposition  to  the  advice 
of  Mr.  Payne  and  other  wise  heads  in  the  party,  accepted 
the  law  as  a  party  issue  and  made  the  "little  Red  School- 
house" — symbol  of  free  public  education — their  slogan. 
The  result  was  the  alienation  of  a  large  body  of  German 
Republicans  and  the  defeat  of  Governor  Hoard  for  re 
election  in  November,  1890.  When  Mr.  Hoard  was  a 
candidate  in  November,  1888,  his  plurality  had  been  20,- 
273 ;  Mr.  George  W.  Peck,  Democrat,  defeated  him  in 
November,  1890,  by  a  plurality  in  the  county  of  Milwau 
kee  of  6,207  votes  and  in  the  state  by  a  plurality  of  28,320 
votes. 

The  Bennett  Law  was  repealed  by  the  legislature  of 
1891 — indeed  a  repealing  bill  was  the  first  measure  in 
troduced  in  the  Assembly  after  its  organization,  and  the 
repealing  act  is  Chapter  4  of  the  Laws  of  1891.  The 
return  of  the  disaffected  Republicans  to  their  former  al 
legiance,  although  certain,  was  slow.  In  the  guberna 
torial  election  in  the  fall  of  1892  Governor  Peck  was 
renominated  to  succeed  himself  and  the  Republicans 
selected  Mr.  John  C.  Spooner  as  their  standard  bearer. 
The  result  of  this  election  was  significant  of  the  steady 
trend  of  the  German  Republicans  back  to  their  proper 
paddock.  Mr.  Spooner  carried  the  county  of  Milwaukee 
by  15  votes  and  reduced  the  plurality  of  Governor  Peck 
—which  in  1890  had  been  28,320  votes — to  7,707  votes. 
By  1894  the  influence  of  the  Bennett  Law  was  no  longer 
felt. 

Mr.    Payne   headed   the   Republican  delegation  from 


88  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Wisconsin  which  assembled  in  Minneapolis,  Minnesota,  in 
the  summer  of  1892,  and  with  delegates  from  other  states 
constituted  the  Republican  National  Convention.  The 
same  candidates  as  in  1888  marshalled  the  Republican  and 
Democratic  hosts,  but  there  was  an  entire  reversal  of  re 
sult — Mr.  Cleveland  again  becoming  the  president. 

When  the  time  drew  near  for  the  assembling  of  the 
Republican  National  Convention  in  1896  Mr.  Payne  was 
placed  in  a  position  of  some  embarrassment.  Not  very 
long  before  he  had  resigned  the  receivership  of  the 
Northern  Pacific;  quite  recently,  as  has  already  been 
stated,  he  had  been  hanged  in  effigy  as  a  "scab''  and 
as  an  enemy  of  labor;  quite  recently  he  had  been  re 
fused  election  by  the  Republican  State  Convention  as  a 
delegate  at  large  to  the  Republican  National  Conven 
tion.  But,  conscious  of  his  rectitude,  none  of  these 
things  moved  him.  As  a  member  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee  he  attended  the  National  Convention 
— which  held  its  sessions  in  Saint  Louis — and  there  met 
the  forces  which  had  been  in  opposition  to  him  in  Wis 
consin  and  whose  efforts  were  now  directed  towards  op 
posing  his  retention  upon  the  National  Committee.  In 
this  attempt  they  met  with  a  signal  failure.  He  remained 
upon  the  National  Committee,  more  firmly  seated  than 
ever  before.  Indeed,  the  chairmanship  of  the  committee 
and  the  management  of  the  impending  presidential  cam 
paign  were  urged  upon  Mr.  Payne  by  Mr.  Marcus  A. 
Hanna,  who  was  then  the  chairman.  Mr.  Payne  declined 
these  positions  on  the  ground  that  his  recent  connection 
with  a  great  strike  rendered  such  prominence  unwise.  He 
did,  however,  accept  the  position  of  vice  chairman  in  the 
campaign. 


LATER  ELECTIONS  89 


That  Mr.  Payne  was  thus  thrust  into  active  association 
with  the  approaching  important  presidential  election  was 
not  only  a  vindication  of  his  honor,  but  a  further  recogni 
tion  of  his  ability  as  an  organizer  and  manager.  And 
this  ability  shone  resplendent  in  the  campaign  of  1896, 
wherein  Governor  William  McKinley  of  Ohio  and  Mr. 
William  J.  Bryan  of  Nebraska  were  the  antagonists.  Mr. 
Payne  was  the  chief  reliance  of  the  National  Committee. 
It  was  he  who  from  the  headquarters  at  Chicago  planned 
the  battle.  It  was  through  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
political  affairs  and  his  rare  good  judgment  that  the  issues 
between  the  two  great,  parties  were  placed  squarely  and 
fairly  before  the  voters.  Mr.  Joseph  W.  Babcock,  con 
gressman  from  the  third  district  of  Wisconsin,  thus  writes 
concerning  the  campaign  of  1896: 

During  this  time  I  had  the  honor  of  being  the  chairman  of  the 
Republican  Congressional  Committee  and  was  in  close  touch  with 
Mr.  Payne,  consulting  with  him  many  times  as  to  details.  I  was 
never  able  to  broach  a  subject  that  he  was  not  thoroughly  posted  on 
and  he  seemed  to  have  as  clear  ideas  as  to  matters  coming  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  Congressional  Committee  as  he  had  of  matters 
pertaining  to  his  own  committee. 

Mr.  Harry  S.  New,  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  thus  ex 
presses  himself  concerning  Mr.  Payne,  in  political  cam 
paigns  and  as  a  man  : 

The  strength  of  his  character  was  impressed  upon  me  in  the 
first  days  of  my  earlier  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Payne,  and  as  time 
passed  and  that  acquaintance  ripened  into  warm  friendship  the  fine 
qualities  of  his  nature  grew  upon  me.  I  was  intimately  associated 
with  him  in  the  Republican  National  Committee  through  two  hard- 
fought  political  campaigns  and  in  my  judgment  his  knowledge  of 
politics  amounted  to  genius.  He  was  never  at  a  loss  to  know  what 
course  to  take,  but  was  quick  to  discern  and  quick  to  act.  His  opin 
ions  were  always  sought,  and  as  often  regarded,  by  those  with  whom 
he  was  associated.  Impaired  physical  health  was  never  allowed  to 
interfere  with  the  performance  of  his  work,  and  indeed  in  his  failure 


90  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

to  heed  protests  of  exhausted  nature,  he  was  unjust  to  himself.  His 
energy  and  desire  to  accomplish  results  were  out  of  proportion  to 
his  bodily  strength,  and  there  is  in  my  mind  no  particle  of  doubt 
that  he  exhausted  his  vitality  by  imposing  upon  himself  too  greatly. 
Of  kindly  nature,  loyal  in  his  friendship,  devoted  to  his  cause,  Mr. 
Payne  will  be  remembered  by  his  associates  with  affectionate  re 
gard.  It  is  good  to  have  known  him,  and  in  the  years  to  come  I 
shall  cherish  the  memory  of  his  friendship. 

Upon  Mr.  Payne's  return  to  Milwaukee  after  the  tri 
umph  of  the  Republican  party  in  November,  1896,  there 
was  a  noticeable  change  in  popular  demeanor  towards 
him.  Those  who  had  eyed  askance  the  man  who  did  un 
popular  things  because  he  thus  conceived  his  duty, 
gathered  in  throngs  in  the  hotel  corridors  to  grasp  his 
hand,  to  pour  felicitations  in  his  ear,  to  prophesy  a  great 
future  for  the  "Napoleon  of  the  political  battlefield."  And 
this  man  so  recently  vilified  and  traduced,  now  catered  to 
and  applauded,  tossed  his  head,  sounded  forth  his  cheery 
laugh  and  exclaimed,  "It's  a  queer  world !" 

It  was  directly  after  the  election  of  Governor  Mc- 
Kinley  that  prominent  mention  began  to  be  made  of  the 
name  of  Mr.  Payne  in  connection  with  the  position  of 
postmaster-general  in  the  cabinet  of  the  new  president. 
This  was  by  no  means  a  new  mention.  Less  distinctly, 
and  with  growing  distinctness,  his  name  had  been  heard 
in  this  connection  for  the  past  eight  years.  Mr.  Payne 
himself  had  not  been  unwilling  to  admit  that  the  position 
of  postmaster-general  was  the  goal  of  his  ambition. 

Now  that  the  election  of  Mr.  McKinley  was  in  great 
measure  due  to  Mr.  Payne's  exertions,  the  subject  of  his 
entering  the  cabinet  was  much  printed  in  the  papers.  Very 
many  letters  of  earnest  suggestion  and  request  reached 
the  president-elect, — letters  from  individuals,  from  politi 
cal  clubs  and  organizations,  from  city,  county  and  state 


LATER  ELECTIONS  91 


committees.  Indeed,  the  Republican  members  of  the 
legislature  of  the  state  of  Kansas  in  caucus  assembled, 
recommended  the  appointment  of  Mr.  Payne  and  sent 
their  recommendation  to  the  newly  chosen  president. 

The  appointment  failed  to  reach  Mr.  Payne — perhaps 
for  reasons  of  locality,  perhaps  because  he  represented  a 
state  where  factional  differences  were  now  rife.  The 
failure  was  a  source  of  deep  disappointment  to  Mr.  Payne, 
but  he  nursed  no  hatreds  and  preserved  no  antagonisms. 
Immediately  upon  the  inauguration  of  President  McKin- 
ley,  Mr.  Payne  called  upon  him  at  the  White  House.  The 
president  praised  him  highly  for  his  services  in  the  cam 
paign  so  successfully  ended,  and  testified  his  obligation  by 
tendering  him  his  choice  of  any  foreign  mission  he  chose 
to  select  except  that  of  France  and  that  of  England,  which 
had  already  been  provided  for.  This  tender  Mr.  Payne, 
upon  his  own  judgment  and  upon  the  advice  of  his  wife, 
thought  best  to  decline,  much  preferring  residence  in  the 
United  States.  Coupled  with  newspaper  comment  upon 
this  declination  was  the  association  of  his  name  with  the 
vacancy  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  caused  by  the 
expiration  of  the  term  of  service  of  Mr.  John  L.  Mitchell. 

Aside  from  his  active  work  in  the  management  of  the 
campaign  of  Mr.  McKinley,  two  other  efforts  toward  the 
same  end  must  not  pass  unnoticed.  These  are : 

Firstly,  his  essay  entitled  Bryan's  Fallacies,  prepared 
lor  use  as  a  pamphlet  for  distribution  among  voters.  This 
is  the  most  ambitious  article  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Payne 
with  which  I  am  acquainted.  It  is  written  in  an  easy, 
flowing  style,  and  is  a  clear  and  spirited  argument  against 
bimetallism. 

Secondly,  his  attitude  at  the  Saint  Louis  Convention 


92  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

in  favor  of  the  gold  standard.  Much  has  been  written 
about  the  employment  of  the  word  gold  in  the  financial 
plank  of  the  Saint  Louis  platform.  It  is  known  that  prior 
to  the  assembling  of  the  convention  Mr.  McKinley  had 
not  been  favorable  to  the  actual  use  of  this  word,  prefer 
ring  that  an  inference  in  its  favor  should  be  drawn  from 
the  employment  of  language  pledging  the  Republican 
party  to  maintain  the  "existing  standard."  A  plank  thus 
phrased  was  carried  by  Senator  Hanna  from  Mr.  Mc 
Kinley  to  Saint  Louis.  The  insertion  of  the  word  "gold" 
after  "existing"  was  the  work  of  the  candidate's  friends 
from  the  middle  west  in  conclave  at  the  Southern  Hotel 
in  the  convention  city.  The  Washington  representative 
of  the  Chicago  Times-Herald,  in  an  article*  entitled  Mr. 
Kohlsaat  of  Chicago  and  his  part  in  the  political  history- 
making  of  1896,  gives  the  credit  for  the  salutary  amend 
ment  to  Mr.  Herman  H.  Kohlsaat  of  the  Chicago  Times- 
Herald  and  Chicago  Evening  Post.  Claims  were  made 
that  Mr.  Kohlsaat,  failing  to  secure  Mr.  McKinley 's  con 
sent  to  the  use  of  the  word  "gold"  went  to  Saint  Louis 
and,  on  the  Friday  before  the  convention  assembled,  met 
Mr.  McKinley's  friends  at  the  Southern  Hotel  and  after 
a  long  conference  in  which  he  was  alone  against  six, 
secured  a  majority  for  the  much  desired  word.  The  art 
icle  says,  "After  a  time  Messrs.  Payne,  Merriam  and 
Stone,f  who  had  been  somewhat  neutral  in  the  discussion, 
came  over  to  Mr.  Kohlsaat's  side  and  this  gave  a  majority 
in  favor  of  the  word  gold." 


*Published  in  Review  of  Reviews,  January,  1897,  page  41. 

fMr.  Merriam  was  Governor  William  R.  Merriam  of  Minnesota, 
later  Director  of  the  United  States  Census;  Mr.  Stone  was  Mr. 
Melville  E.  Stone  of  the  Associated  Press. 


LATER  ELECTIONS  93 

As  the  writer  of  the  above  article  was  not  present  at 
this  Friday  meeting  he  speaks  from  hearsay  only,  and  ap 
parently  does  not  know  that  Mr.  Payne  attended  this  very 
Friday  meeting  with  a  gold  plank  resolution,  already  pre 
pared,  in  his  possession.  If  therefore  Mr.  Payne  was 
"somewhat  neutral  in  the  discussion,"  his  ''coming  over" 
to  Mr.  Kohlsaat's  side  was  a  mere  external  expression  of 
what  he  already  believed  and  advocated.  It  may  well  be 
doubted,  too,  if  Mr.  Payne  remained  "somewhat  neutral" 
in  the  discussion.  To  be  outspoken,  not  "neutral"  was 
Mr.  Payne's  characteristic,  as  has  already  been  noticed 
more  than  once  in  these  pages.  Moreover,  there  is  evi 
dence  that  shows  Mr.  Payne  hugged  the  word  gold  prior 
to  the  Friday  conference  alluded  to  in  the  article.  Senator 
Redfield  Proctor  of  Vermont,  who  was  one  of  the  seven 
at  the  Friday  conference,  has  written  the  following  nar 
rative,  under  date  of  May  4,  1905  : 

What  position  should  be  taken  on  the  gold  standard,  was  the 
great  question  before  the  St.  Louis  Convention  of  1896.  It  was 
then  certain  that  Governor  McKinley's  friends  would  be  in  control, 
and  the  attitude  they  might  take  upon  silver  coinage  and  the  gold 
standard  was  of  vital  importance.  Mr.  Payne,  a  week  before  the 
Convention  met,  called  together  some  of  those  who  favored  the 
nomination  of  Governor  McKinley  and  urged  the  adoption  of  a 
strong  gold  plank.  Several  conferences  were  held  each  day  for  the 
four  days  preceding  the  Friday  before  the  Convention.  The  regular 
attendants  at  those  conferences  were  Mr.  Payne,  Mr.  Kohlsaat, 
Governor  Merriam  of  Minnesota,  Mr.  (now  Governor)  Herrick  of 
Ohio,  Mr.  Melville  E.  Stone  of  the  Associated  Press  and  myself. 
Mr.  Hanna  was  in  the  room  often,  but,  as  he  expressed  it,  he  was 
''too  busy  in  trying  to  make  a  President  to  give  much  attention  to 
the  platform."  Others  were  called  in  occasionally,  but  with  the 
single  exception  named,  all  from  the  middle  west.  Mr.  Payne  was 
the  active  one  in  getting  us  together.  After  each  meeting  he  had 
the  plank  typewritten  in  his  room  with  the  changes  that  had  been 
agreed  upon,  and  copies  made  for  each  of  us  to  use  at  the  next 
conference.  I  have  now  several  of  these  copies.* 


*Several  of  these  copies  are  found  among  Mr.   Payne's  papers. 


94  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


Mr.  Kohlsaat  was  also  very  earnest  at  the  meetings,  and  through 
his  paper,  in  advocacy  of  a  strong  gold  plank.  I  have  a  letter  from 
him  dated  June  22,  1896,  in  which  he  says  that  "a  copy  of  the  plank 
was  handed  to  me  by  HENRY  C.  PAYNE,  of  Wisconsin,  on  Friday, 
June  I2th,  at  9 130  a.m." — the  Friday  before  the  Convention.  I  have 
a  copy  given  me  by  Mr.  Payne  at  that  time,  and  there  were  only 
two  changes  made  in  it,  both  unimportant  and  not  strengthening  the 
gold  feature  of  the  plank.  It  was  wired  to  Governor  McKinley 
that  afternoon  and  received  his  approval,  although  he  had  earlier  ap 
proved  a  milder  expression,  avoiding  the  explicit  declaration  for  a 
''gold  standard.'' 

Mr.  Payne,  from  his  wide  political  acquaintance  and  influence, 
was  potential  in  securing  the  assent  of  delegations  enough  before 
the  Convention  met,  to  make  its  adoption  certain.  Mr.  Kohlsaat 
urged  it  with  great  force  in  his  paper. 

The  policy  of  adopting  this  gold  plank  was  decided  upon  by  men 
of  the  middle  west,  and  its  adoption  made  sure  by  them,  and  to  no 
one  is  greater  credit  due  for  a  result  fraught  with  great  good  to 
the  country  than  to  Henry  C.  Payne,  of  Wisconsin. 

And  Mr.  Merriam,  already  mentioned  as  another  of 
the  seven,  thus  writes : 

The  friends  of  Mr.  McKinley,  the  leading  candidate  of  the  Re 
publican  party  for  the  high  office  of  President  of  the  United  States, 
were  determined  not  only  to  nominate  him,  but  to  place  a  plank  in 
the  platform  of  the  party  declaring  for  gold  as  the  sole  standard 
for  money  in  the  United  States. 

Wisconsin  a  sound  money  state,  by  reason  of  its  conservative, 
law-abiding  and  patriotic  citizenship  chose  a  strong  delegation  to 
represent  its  interests  at  the  St.  Louis  Convention,  headed  by  Hon. 
Henry  C.  Payne.  Living  in  a  neighboring  state,  I  had  known  Mr. 
Payne  for  some  years  very  favorably,  with  a  high  opinion  of  his 
character  and  ability  as  a  leader.  His  selection  as  a  delegate  to  the 
Republican  Convention  insured  a  good  advocate  for  the  gold  stand 
ard  as  well  as  a  determined  and  uncompromising  champion  in  a 
cause  which  so  many  of  us  deemed  the  most  important  public  ques 
tion  for  a  generation. 

Minnesota  Republicans  had  announced  through  their  convention 
their  adherence  to  the  gold  standard  and  had  instructed  their  dele 
gates,  myself  among  others,  to  spare  no  efforts  to  have  placed  in 
the  Republican  national  platform  a  straight  out  declaration  for  gold 
as  the  money  standard  for  the  country. 

On  my  arrival  in  St.  Louis  a  few  days  before  the  opening  day 
of  the  Convention,  I  found  among  others  on  the  ground  and  ready 


LATER  ELECTIONS  95 

for  the  fray,  Mr.  Payne,  who  was  at  the  headquarters  of  Mr.  Hanna, 
the  chief  representative  of  Mr.  McKinley.  Several  other  friends  of 
the  candidate  had  also  arrived,  and  meetings  were  constantly  held  in 
Mr.  Hanna's  rooms  for  the  purpose  of  putting  into  shape  the  pro 
posed  declaration  for  a  gold  plank.  Among  others  who  were  pres 
ent  during  the  various  conferences  were  Mr.  H.  C.  Payne,  of  Wis 
consin,  Senator  Proctor,  of  Vermont,  Col.  Myron  Herrick,  of  Cleve 
land,  Ohio,  Mr.  Melville  C.  Stone,  of  Chicago,  Mr.  Herman  Kohl- 
saat,  of  Chicago,  the  writer  of  this  sketch,  and,  of  course,  Mr.  Hanna. 

The  outline  of  the  plank  to  be  used  in  the  proposed  platform 
was  presented  by  Mr.  Payne,  advocated  by  him,  and  finally  adopted 
with  some  modifications  by  the  members  of  the  conference.  It  was 
discussed  for  several  days,  and  at  times  the  conflicting  opinions 
threatened  to  disrupt  the  self-constituted  committee,  but  in  the  end 
the  work  of  the  gentlemen  referred  to  was  chosen  as  the  expression 
of  the  Convention.  When  finally  in  form,  it  was  submitted  to  the 
leaders  of  the  party,  among  others  Senator  Foraker,  of  Ohio,  Senator 
Lodge,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Senator  Platt,  of  New  York,  and  all 
agreed  as  to  its  desirability  and  as  expressive  of  the  will  of  the 
party.  During  the  many  conferences  held  in  Mr.  Hanna's  room 
lasting  very  frequently  until  the  early  morning  hours,  Mr.  Payne 
was  the  insistent  and  determined  advocate  of  a  plain  and  unequivocal 
declaration,  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party,  of  the  policy  of 
adopting  the  gold  standard.  While  he  listened  with  patience  and 
forbearance  to  those  who  were  quite  willing  to  avoid  the  main 
issue  and  take  a  doubtful  position  on  the  question,  he  was  firm  and 
unyielding;  and  to  him  is  due  the  credit  of  helping  to  inject  into  the 
platform  of  a  great  political  party,  a  declaration  that  resulted  in  the 
election  of  William  McKinley,  and  the  most  prosperous  period  in  the 
world's  history.  Payne  showed  his  characteristics  thoroughly  in 
this  contest.  He  was  of  most  gracious  and  delightful  personality, 
with  the  best  of  temper,  and  yet  withal  decided  and  uncompromising 
with  a  principle  at  stake.  He  was  thoroughly  impressed  with  the 
idea,  as  many  of  us  were,  that  the  time  had  come  to  let  the  world 
know  that  the  people  of  the  United  States  propose  to  maintain  its 
commercial  integrity  at  any  cost  and  at  all  hazards,  and  that  the 
Republican  party  with  its  splendid  past  should  be  the  chosen  vehicle 
to  accomplish  this  result. 

Mr.  Payne  accomplished  much  in  various  walks  of  life,  notably 
as  a  successful  business  man  and  as  a  faithful  public  servant.  His 
work  at  St.  Louis  was,  in  my  judgment,  the  most  important  in  his 
career,  and  too  much  credit  cannot  be  awarded  him  for  his  splendid 
effort  in  behalf  of  a  sound  currency  and  untarnished  public  credit. 


96  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Mr.  Payne's  own  version  of  the  history  of  the  gold 
plank,  prepared  by  him  at  the  request  of  Senator  Hanna 
not  long  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Saint  Louis  Con 
vention,  was  printed  in  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  June  25, 
1896,  and  is  as  follows: 

I  arrived  in  St.  Louis  on  Wednesday  of  the  week  before  the 
Convention  and  on  that  day  called  on  Mark  A.  Hanna  at  the  Ohio 
headquarters,  and  discussed  with  him  the  financial  plank  to  be  in 
serted  in  the  platform.  Mr.  Hanna  handed  me  some  memoranda 
which  he  had,  covering  the  points  which  he  thought  should  be  em 
braced  in  that  plank,  requesting  me  to  put  them  in  form  and  submit 
them  at  a  conference  of  a  few  friends  and  representatives  of  Gover 
nor  McKinley  the  next  morning. 

I  put  them  in  form,  and  in  the  morning  met  Mr.  Hanna,  Gen. 
Osborne,  and  Mr.  Herrick,  all  from  Ohio.  At  this  conference  the 
main  points  of  the  plank  were  agreed  to,  some  minor  changes  sug 
gested,  and  I  was  requested  to  put  the  modified  draft  in  proper  form 
and  submit  it  to  a  meeting  of  Governor  McKinley's  friends  to  be 
held  on  Friday  morning,  and  the  following  is  the  draft  then  sub 
mitted  : 

"The  Republican  party  is  unreservedly  for  sound  money.  It 
caused  the  enactment  of  the  law  providing  for  the  resumption  of 
specie  payments  in  1879;  since  then  every  dollar  has  been  as  good 
as  gold.  We  are  unalterably  opposed  to  every  measure  calculated 
to  debase  our  currency  or  impair  the  credit  of  our  country.  We  are 
therefore  opposed  to  the  free  and  unlimited  coinage  of  silver,  ex 
cept  by  international  agreement  with  the  leading  commercial  nations 
of  Europe,  and  until  such  agreement  can  be  obtained  we  believe  the 
existing  gold  standard  should  be  preserved.  We  favor  the  use  of 
silver  as  currency,  but  to  the  extent  only  that  its  parity  with  gold 
can  be  maintained,  and  we  favor  all  measures  designed  to  maintain 
inviolably  the  money  of  the  United  States,  whether  coin  or  paper, 
at  the  present  standard,  the  standard  of  the  most  enlightened  nations 
of  the  earth." 

This  draft  was  submitted  to  a  conference  of  Governor  Mc 
Kinley's  personal  friends  and  supporters  on  Friday  morning,  at 
which  were  present  Governor  Merriam  of  Minnesota,  Mr.  Kohlsaat 
of  Chicago,  Senator  Proctor  of  Vermont,  M.  A.  Hanna  and  M.  T. 
Herrick  of  Cleveland,  and  myself.  It  met  with  their  unanimous 
approval,  whereupon  it  was  telegraphed  to  Governor  McKinley,  and 
his  approval  of  it  was  received  within  a  few  hours. 

Governor  Merriam  represented  Minnesota  on  the  Committee  on 


LATER  ELECTIONS  97 

Resolutions.  The  plank  as  drawn  was  handed  to  him  and  by  him 
and  Mr.  Hanna  submitted  to  Governor  Foraker  of  Ohio,  who  was 
selected  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  and  it  was 
approved  by  Governor  Foraker. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  eastern  delegates  before  referred  to, 
Governor  Merriam  conferred  with  them,  stating  that  this  draft  met 
with  the  approval  of  the  supporters  of  Governor  McKinley,  and  it 
was  declared  by  these  gentlemen  to  be  satisfactory. 

The  Committee  on  Resolutions  made  some  few  verbal  changes  in 
it,  but  none  affecting  the  spirit  or  essence  of  its  declaration.  It  will 
therefore  be  seen  that  a  great  injustice  is  being  done  to  the  western 
Republicans,  and  especially  to  Governor  McKinley  and  his  personal 
friends  by  the  statement  that  the  financial  plank  was  reluctantly  ac 
cepted  by  them,  when  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  originated  wholly  in  the 
house  of  his  friends. 

That  Mr.  Kohlsaat,  in  his  independent  newspapers, 
vigorously  favored  the  word  gold  as  necessary  to  be  used 
in  the  platforms  of  both  or  either  of  the  great  parties  may 
well  be  admitted,  but  the  statement  that  at  Saint  Louis 
he  converted  Mr.  Payne  to  his  views  or  antedated  him  in 
the  preparation  and  presentation  of  a  gold  plank  for  the 
platform  of  the  Republican  Convention  of  1896,  is  denied. 

Two  references  of  a  more  general  character  follow : 
The  Chicago  Herald  of  December  14,  1897,  contains  this 
sentence  in  regard  to  the  gold  plank  in  the  Saint  Louis 
platform: 

That  plank  was  the  result  of  the  labors  of  Henry  C.  Payne  of 
Wisconsin,  ex-Governor  Merriam  of  Minnesota,  Myron  T.  Herrick 
of  Cleveland,  Mark  A.  Hanna  and  two  others,  all  of  them  close 
friends  and  supporters  of  Governor  McKinley. 

A  letter  from  Mr.  Herrick,  who,  when  he  wrote  De 
cember  12,  1905,  was  the  governor  of  Ohio,  contains  this 
passage: 

I  remember  Mr.  Payne,  especially  in  the  Saint  Louis  Convention 
in  1896  when  McKinley  was  nominated  the  first  time,  when  we  were 
endeavoring  to  harmonize  the  silver  men  of  the  west  and  the  gold 
men  of  the  east,  by  the  introduction  into  the  platform  of  a  money 


98  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

plank.  Here  Mr.  Payne  shone  in  his  diplomacy  and  versatility,  both 
in  framing  the  plank  and  afterward  in  preventing  the  extremists  of 
both  factions  from  leaving  the  party.  He  labored  unceasingly,  and 
the  valuable  results  of  his  work  in  that  Convention  will  never  be 
known  to  the  people.  I  sincerely  believe  that  he  gave  his  life  to 
his  party  and  to  his  country. 


UNEQUAL  REPRESENTATION  IN  CONVENTIONS      99 


CHAPTER  XII 


(Unequal  ^Representation  in  Contentions 

After  an  interval  of  six  years,  Mr.  John  C.  Spooner 
was  re-elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  January 
27,  1897,  by  the  legislature  of  Wisconsin,  receiving  every 
Republican  vote  in  the  Senate,  29  votes,  and  every  Re 
publican  vote  in  the  Assembly,  91  votes.  A  close  and 
warm  friendship  long  existed  between  Senator  Spooner 
and  Mr.  Payne,  and  the  latter  was  exceedingly  anxious 
that  the  Senator,  whose  former  career  in  Congress  had 
been  brilliant  and  statesmanlike,  should  again  gain  sena 
torial  position.  The  accomplishment  of  this  result  was 
no  less  gratifying  to  Mr.  Payne  than  to  Senator  Spooner, 
whose  continued  usefulness  and  influence  in  Congress 
have  amply  justified  the  legislative  selection. 

It  is  perhaps  unduly  dignifying  a  malicious  and  vilify 
ing  writing  to  notice  an  article  which  appeared  in  a 
monthly  magazine  of  June,  1906,  concerning  political 
affairs  in  Wisconsin  in  1897,  and  which  contains  a  refer 
ence  to  the  subject  of  this  biography.  The  author  de 
clares  that  the  Wisconsin  legislature  of  1897  was  a 
"Payne  legislature,"  that  it  "did  not  represent  the  people," 
that  "it  was  for  the  most  part  a  rotten  aggregation  of 
Republican  and  Democratic  hacks  swept  in  by  the  Payne- 
Spooner  gang  on  the  tide  against  free  silver,"  and  that 
"it  was  not  unnaturally  suspected  that  Spooner's  friends 
had  to  'give  clown'  for  his  election." 


100  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

There  need  be  no  hesitation  in  characterizing  these 
assertions  as  wholesale  and  malevolent  libels ;  cruel,  also, 
because  they  affect  in  part  a  man  whose  protest  against 
them  death  has  stilled.  That  the  legislature  "did  not 
represent  the  people''  is  an  amusing,  as  well  as  an  amaz 
ing,  charge  when  it  is  considered  that  the  Republicans 
carried  Wisconsin  and  the  legislature  by  the  unparalleled 
plurality  of  103,000  votes.  As  to  the  indirect  insinuation 
of  bribery,  this  charge  is  easily  made  and  it  sells  maga 
zines.  Senator  Spooner,  who  must  have  been  knowing 
to  improper  acts  to  secure  his  election,  declared  in  1897, 
"No  improper  influence  of  any  kind  was  employed  in  my 
behalf."  And  for  that  matter,  why  should  there  have 
been?  There  was  no  other  candidate  for  the  Republican 
nomination, — why  then  bribe?  On  joint  ballot  of  the 
Senate  and  Assembly  there  were  120  Republican  votes, 
of  which  Senator  Spooner  received  120 — why  then  bribe? 

I  have  thought  best  to  alphabetize  a  portion  of  the  so- 
called  "rotten  aggregation  of  Republican  hacks  swept  in 
by  the  Payne-Spooner  gang"  and  constituting  a  part  of 
the  "Payne  legislature"  of  1897,  and  who  are  open  to  the 
charge  of  having  been  bribed  by  "Spooner's  friends"  in 
order  to  secure  his  election.  The  list  might  be  greatly 
increased : 

Frank  A.  Anson,  Milwaukee;  William  H.  Austin, 
Milwaukee;  Charles  H.  Baxter,  Lancaster;  George  A. 
BuckstafT,  Oshkosh;  Byron  A.  Buffington,  Eau  Claire; 
Silas  Bullard,  Menasha;  James  O.  Davidson,  Soldiers' 
Grove;  Charles  W.  Davis,  Oshkosh;  William  H.  Devos, 
Milwaukee;  Fred  A.  Dennett,  Port  Washington;  Abner 
S.  Flagg,  Edgerton;  William  M.  Fogo,  Richland  Center; 
William  H.  Froehlich,  Jackson;  Charles  T.  Fisher,  Wau- 


UNEQUAL  REPRESENTATION  IN  CONVENTIONS    101 

watosa ;  Albert  R.  Hall,  Knapp ;  Frank  E.  Hurd,  New 
Lisbon;  William  H.  Hurlbut,  Elkhorn;  Andrew  Jensen, 
Ogdensburg;  David  F.  Jones,  Sparta;  William  A.  Jones, 
Mineral  Point;  Clarence  A.  Lamoreux,  Ashland;  Will 
iam  T.  Lewis,  Racine;  James  J.  McGillivray,  Black  River 
Falls ;  Andrew  C.  Mailer,  DePere ;  Charles  W.  Merriman, 
Beloit;  Oliver  G.  Munson,  Viroqua;  Clarence  E.  Peirce, 
Germania;  Solon  W.  Pierce,  Friendship;  Henry  C.  Put 
nam,  Brcclhead;  George  H.  Ray,  La  Crosse;  John  F.  Rey 
nolds,  Genoa  Junction;  Julius  E.  Roehr,  Milwaukee;  Gil 
bert  Rutherford,  Lake  Mills;  Charles  A.  Stanley,  Chip- 
pewa  Falls;  DeWayne  Stebbins,  Ahnapee;  Jesse  Stone, 
Watertown;  James  H.  Stout,  Menomonie;  George  W. 
Taylor,  Marinette;  Lyman  W.  Thayer,  Ripon;  John  W. 
Thomas,  Anson;  Henry  M.  Thompson,  Mosinee;  Ernst 
G.  Timme,  Kenosha;  Nathaniel  B.  Treat,  Monroe;  John 
M.  True,  Baraboo;  Charles  H.  Wrelch,  Milwaukee; 
Chauncey  B.  Welton,  Madison;  John  W.  Whelan,  Mon- 
dovi;  William  G.  Wheeler,  Janesville;  John  M.  White- 
head,  Janesville;  Herman  C.  Wipperman,  Grand  Rapids; 
Levi  Withee,  La  Crosse;  George  W.  Wolff,  Rhine;  Demp 
ster  Wr.  Woodworth,  Ellsworth ;  George  Wylie,  Leeds. 

Wrhat  citizen  of  Wisconsin  will  call  these  men  "a  rot 
ten  aggregation  of  Republican  hacks"  ? 

As  the  presidential  campaign  of  1900  drew  near  Mr. 
Payne  began  to  agitate  the  subject  of  a  change  in  the 
representation  at  National  Conventions  from  the  basis  of 
congressional  districts  to  a  basis  which  would  be  more 
just  to  the  states  that  furnished  the  Republican  majorities. 
This  was  not  a  new  subject  either  with  him  or  with  other 
members  of  the  National  Committee,  but  the  present  time 
when  there  was  to  be  no  contest  for  the  nomination  for 


102  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

the  presidency  seemed  an  especially  appropriate  season  for 
pushing  the  change.  The  vice  of  the  existing  system  was 
that  Southern  states,  where  there  was  little  or  no  Re 
publican  suffrage,  had  an  equal  representation  in  conven 
tions  with  the  Northern  states  where  Republicans  are 
largely  in  numerical  ascendancy.  Examples  of  the  pres 
ent  inequality  are  given  by  Mr.  Payne  in  a  telegram  sent 
November  30,  1899,  to  the  New  York  Press  at  its  request, 
which  was  of  the  following  tenor : 

Can  any  one  give  a  good  reason  why  the  states  of  Alabama, 
Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  South  Carolina, 
casting  200,076  Republican  votes  at  the  last  Presidential  election, 
should  have  124  delegates  in  the  National  Convention,  while  New 
Jersey,  casting  221,367  Republican  votes,  should  have  but  twenty 
delegates  ?  In  other  words,  the  states  mentioned  have  more  than 
six  times  the  voice  in  determining  our  nominee  that  New  Jersey  has, 
notwithstanding  it  is  not  conceivable  that  they  can  give  a  single 
electoral  vote  to  the  Republican  candidate.  The  vote  of  New  Jersey 
is  almost  essential  to  Republican  success.  Or  why  should  these 
states  have  nearly  twice  the  voice  of  New  York  with  819,838  Repub 
lican  votes?  Is  it  just,  fair  and  wise  that  the  southern  states  re 
ferred  to  should  have  fifty  per  cent,  greater  voice  in  the  selection 
of  a  candidate  than  New  York  and  New  Jersey  combined,  when  the 
vote  in  those  two  states  is  the  determining  factor  in  the  election  of 
our  candidates?  It  is  quite  possible  that  these  hopelessly  minority 
states  may  be  potential  in  naming  a  candidate  who  would  be  so  ob 
jectionable  to  some  of  the  strong  Republican  states  of  the  North  as 
to  make  it  impossible  to  succeed  in  the  election.  It  is  not  to  be  sup 
posed  that  the  representatives  of  the  southern  states  referred  to  can 
be  in  touch  with  the  Republican  sentiment  in  the  North  and  that 
they  can  judge  as  intelligently  or  wisely  what  is  best  to  be  done  as 
delegates  representing  great  Republican  strongholds.  It  is  oppor 
tune  that  this  change  in  representation  should  be  made  at  the  com 
ing  Convention  for  the  reason  that  there  will  be  but  one  candidate 
for  the  nomination.  It  is  impossible  to  secure  the  change  when 
several  candidates  are  seeking  the  nomination.  Is  it  not  entirely 
fair  and  just  that  all  Republicans  should  have  an  equal  voice  in  the 
naming  of  our  candidates?  What  good  reason  can  be  given  that 
one  Republican  in  Mississippi  should  have  forty  times  as  much  voice 
in  naming  our  candidate  as  a  Republican  in  the  State  of  Illinois? 


UNEQUAL  REPRESENTATION  IN  CONVENTIONS    103 

These  illustrations  exhibit  forcibly  the  injustice  to 
which  the  author  of  the  despatch  alluded,  and  justified 
him  in  the  preparation  of  the  following  preamble  and 
resolution,  which  he  anticipated  presenting  to  the  Na 
tional  Committee  at  its  approaching  meeting : 

WHEREAS,,  The  present  basis  of  representation  in  Republican 
National  Conventions  is  unjust  and  unequal,  and  this  injustice  should 
be  remedied ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  the  Republican  National  Committee  recommends 
to  the  next  National  Convention  that  a  new  basis  of  representation 
be  established,  as  follows : 

Each  state  to  be  entitled  to  four  delegates  at  large,  and  one  ad 
ditional  delegate  for  each  ten  thousand  votes,  or  majority  fraction 
thereof,  cast  at  the  last  preceding  Presidential  election  for  Repub 
lican  electors ;  and  four  delegates  from  each  organized  territory  and 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  and  be  it 

Further  Resolved,  That  in  allotting  delegates  to  the  states  as 
provided,  aside  from  delegates  at  large,  they  shall  be  divided  as 
near  as  practicable  among  the  several  Congressional  Districts  of  the 
states,  the  basis  shall  be  the  same,  and  where  it  is  necessary  to  unite 
one  or  more  Congressional  Districts  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out 
this  resolution,  contiguous  districts  may  be  united. 

These  tentative  expressions  were  mailed  in  advance 
to  the  other  members  of  the  National  Committee  and 
were  given  large  publicity  in  the  press.  Among  the  com- 
mitteemen  there  was  wide,  but  not  unanimous  approval. 
But  in  the  newspapers  in  certain  sections,  especially 
throughout  the  south,  there  was  forthwith  great  uproar. 
The  Weekly  Press  of  Mobile,  Alabama,  a  Republican 
paper  edited  by  a  negro,  headed  its  protest,  "Attempted 
Outrage,"  and  averred  that  Mr.  Payne  was  trying  to  drive 
the  colored  voters  out  of  the  Republican  party.  Another 
Southern  paper — and  these  two  are  samples  of  many — 
took  for  the  text  of  its  violent  objection  the  phrase, 
"Freezing  Out  the  Black  Delegates."  The  point  was 
made  with  great  plausibility  that  if  the  Republican  votes 


104  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

willing  to  be  cast,  or  actually  cast,  in  Southern  states, 
could  really  be  cast,  or  could  honestly  be  counted  as  cast, 
there  would  be  no  inequality  or  injustice  in  the  present 
basis  of  representation  and  that  it  would  be  wrong-  to  ac 
cept  the  count — notoriously  incorrect — furnished  by  brow 
beating  and  bulldozing  Democratic  inspectors  as  the  test 
to  regulate  the  basis  of  representation  in  Republican  con 
ventions. 

Moreover,  questions  of  expediency  and  policy  urged 
in  opposition  to  the  change :  To  diminish  the  strength  in 
convention  in  any  minority  state  is  to  discourage  the 
struggle  for  supremacy,  to  humiliate  the  faithful,  to  ac 
knowledge  a  weakness  that  time  might  overcome,  to  place 
a  premium  upon  membership  in  the  opposing  party,  to 
narrow  the  chances  of  party  success  in  future  emergencies, 
to  make  despondent  those  contending  for  political  prin 
ciples  without  the  present  hope  of  political  reward. 

Considerations  like  these  were  very  potent.  When  the 
National  Committee  met  in  Washington,  December  16, 
1899,  while  not  abating  his  desire,  or  yielding  the  argu 
ment,  Mr.  Payne  found  that  Mr.  McKinley,  who  was  to 
be  the  only  candidate  for  president  before  the  forthcoming 
convention,  and  Senator  Hanna,  chairman  of  the  National 
Committee,  were  opposed  to  the  presentation  of  the  resolu 
tions  and  that  committeemen  who  had  favored  them  in 
private  correspondence,  had  been  stormed  into  opposition 
by  letters  and  telegrams  from  every  source.  As  a  conse 
quence  Mr.  Payne,  feeling  the  futility  of  the  present  effort, 

addressed  the  Committee  as  follows : 

I  ask  the  Committee  to  honor  me  with  its  attention  for  a  few 
minutes  for  a  statement  somewhat  personal  in  its  nature. 

It  is  well  known  by  members  of  the  Committee,  both  from  the 
public  press  and  correspondence  with  them,  that  I  have  intended  to 


UNEQUAL  REPRESENTATION  IN  CONVENTIONS    105 

offer  and  advocate  the  adoption  by  the  Committee  of  a  resolution 
recommending  to  the  next  Republican  National  Convention  a  change 
in  the  basis  of  representation  in  subsequent  conventions.  I  some 
time  since  gave  to  the  press,  for  publication  and  discussion,  the  reso 
lution  which  I  had  prepared  to  present  to  the  Committee  upon  the 
subject. 

Briefly  stated,  it  proposed  to  make  the  National  Convention, 
which  nominates  Republican  tickets  and  formulates  Republican  plat 
forms,  fairly  representative  of  those  who  vote  for  Republican  plat 
forms  and  Republican  principles.  The  proposition  has  received  the 
support  of  almost  the  entire  Republican  press  of  the  country,  and  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that  upon  its  merits,  as  well  as  upon  grounds 
of  expediency,  it  has  the  support  of  a  large  number  of  this  Com 
mittee. 

I  have  not  in  the  slightest  degree  changed  my  conviction  as  to  its 
justice,  nor  have  I  the  slightest  doubt  as  to  its  expediency.  Within 
a  day  or  two  it  has  encountered  opposition  which  I  had  no  reason  to 
anticipate,  including  that  of  the  Chairman  of  this  Committee.  It  is 
sufficient  for  me  to  say  that  out  of  my  regard  for  his  opinion,  and 
the  opinions  and  wishes  of  others  high  in  the  councils  of  the  party, 
to  which,  as  a  loyal  Republican,  I  feel  bound  to  defer,  I  am  con 
strained  not  to  offer  the  resolution. 

I  thank  the  Committee  for  its  indulgence,  and  I  have  made 
this  statement  only  in  obvious  justice  to  myself. 

What  is  further  to  be  said  upon  this  topic  will  here  be 
gathered : 

The  Review  of  Reviews  thus  commented  :* 

In  the  National  Republican  conventions  Mr.  Payne  has  been  the 
chief  advocate  of  a  very  desirable  reform  yet  to  be  accomplished, 
namely,  the  apportionment  of  membership  on  the  basis  of  the  actual 
party  vote  as  given  in  the  previous  national  election.  This  would 
exclude  nine-tenths  of  the  delegates  from  the  far  South. 

The  subject  was  more  quietly  agitated  between  the 
meeting  of  the  National  Committee  just  mentioned  and 
the  opening  of  the  Republican  Convention,  in  Philadel 
phia,  in  June,  1900.  At  this  convention  Senator  Matthew 
S.  Quay,  of  Pennsylvania,  called  the  attention  of  the  mem- 

*Number  for  January,  1900,  Volume  XXV,  page  20. 


106  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

bers  to  the  injustice  of  the  present  basis  of  representation, 
but  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  influential  fellow  members 
of  the  convention  he  did  not  insist  upon  immediate  action, 
and  the  matter  was  again  postponed. 

At  this  convention,  and  since,  prominent  Republicans 
from  Rhode  Island  have  been  forward  with  a  proposed 
change  in  the  basis  of  representation  founded  upon  Mr. 
Payne's  plan,  but  providing  for  a  reduction  in  the  basis 
of  representation  only  in  those  states  wrhere  the  Republican 
vote  is  unterrorized,  and  free  to  be  counted.  In  agitating 
the  change  in  the  basis  of  representation,  the  mantle  of 
Mr.  Payne  has  fallen  upon  other  members  of  the  National 
Committee. 


McKlNLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT  107 


CHAPTER  XIII 


anD  Kooseuelt 

As  the  time  for  the  National  Convention  of  1900  drew 
on  apace  two  things  were  very  evident :  one,  that  Mr.  Mc- 
Kinley  was  the  certain  candidate  to  succeed  himself;  the 
other,  that  the  name  of  the  vice-presidential  nominee  was 
as  uncertain  as  that  of  his  senior  was  certain.  Mr.  Payne 
was  very  anxious  that  the  nomination  for  the  second  place 
should  go  to  Mr.  Elihu  Root,  of  New  York,  who  was  then 
in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary  of  War.  His  solicitude  in 
this  particular  is  evident  from  despatches  in  the  New 
York  papers  in  January,  1900,  of  which  the  following  are 
specimens : 

From  New  York  Tribune,  January  n,  1900: 
MILWAUKEE,  Wis.,  Jan.  10. — Henry  C.  Payne,  National  Repub 
lican  Committeeman  for  Wisconsin,  to-day  received  a  letter  from 
Secretary  Root,  in  which  the  latter  states  that  he  is  not,  and  will 
not  be,  a  candidate  for  Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  In  his 
letter  Mr.  Root  expresses  the  belief  that  it  is  far  more  important  to 
the  country,  the  Administration  and  the  Republican  party  at  this 
time,  that  he  should  continue  to  attend  to  the  business  of  the  War 
office — not  that  there  are  not  plenty  of  other  men  who  could  well 
discharge  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  War,  but  having  spent  five  or 
six  months  in  becoming  familiar  with  the  subject,  no  other  man 
could  step  in  and  take  up  the  work  without  going  through  the  same 
training. 

From  New  York  Sun,  January  11,  1900: 
WASHINGTON,  Jan.  10. — Secretary  Root  this  afternoon  confirmed 
the  report  that  he  had  written  a  letter  to  Henry  C.  Payne,  of  Wis 
consin,  Vice-Chairman  of  the  National  Republican  Committee,  declin 
ing  to   accept   a   nomination   for   Vice-President.     Secretary   Root's 


108  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

reason  for  his  decimation  is  that  he  believes  that  he  can  be  of  more 
service  to  the  country,  the  Republican  party  and  the  Administration 
by  remaining  at  his  desk  in  the  War  Department  and  devoting  him 
self  to  military  matters.  He  said  to  The  Sun  representative : 

"Important  questions  are  before  the  War  Department,  questions 
which  cannot  be  settled  for  some  little  time,  and  while  the  President 
could  certainly  get  some  good  and  able  man  for  the  position  of  Sec 
retary  of  War,  no  one  could  come  into  the  Department  and  acquire 
familiarity  with  matters  before  the  department  and  questions  under 
consideration  for  the  Army  without  going  through  the  same  educa 
tion  that  I  have.  Should  I  accept  the  Vice-Presidency  I  would  be 
leaving  my  work  in  the  Department  unfinished.  I  consider  it  far 
more  important  for  the  country,  the  Administration  and  for  the 
Republican  party  for  me  to  stay  in  the  War  Department  and  attend 
to  my  work  here.  Having  these  reasons  in  mind  I  wrote  to  Mr. 
Payne,  explaining  to  him  that  I  could  not  accept  the  Vice-Presi 
dency." 

The  letter  to  Mr.  Payne  was  written  about  three  weeks  ago. 
Mr.  Payne  communicated  with  Secretary  Root,  asking  if  there  was 
any  objection  to  its  being  published.  Secretary  Root  replied  that 
there  was  no  objection  to  stating  its  purport. 

Mr.  Root  having  thus  eliminated  himself  from  possible 
candidature,  Mr.  Payne's  thoughts  were  directed  towards 
Mr.  Theodore  Roosevelt,  then  serving  as  Governor  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  Three  considerations  were  dominant 
in  Mr.  Payne's  mind;  one,  that  the  vice-presidential  can 
didate  should  be  selected  from  the  oscillating  and  import 
ant  state  of  New  York;  a  second,  that  such  candidate 
should  be  able  to  unite  the  warring  factions  which  in  that 
state  were  dividing  and  weakening  the  Republican  party; 
third,  that  the  vice-presidential  candidate  should  be  him 
self  strong  presidential  timber,  in  case  any  untoward  ac 
cident  should  befall  the  chief — a  melancholy  contingency 
that  actually  happened.  In  late  January  and  early  Febru 
ary,  1900,  correspondence  and  personal  interviews  oc 
curred  between  Governor  Roosevelt  and  Mr.  Payne,  and 
the  latter,  in  a  visit  which  he  made  to  Albany  at  the 


McKlNLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT  109 

former's  telegraphed  request,  strongly  urged  upon  the 
Governor  to  permit  the  use  of  his  name  in  the  approach 
ing  convention.  But  at  that  time  Governor  Roosevelt 
steadily  refused,  preferring  the  strenuous  activity  of  the 
gubernatorial  office  at  Albany,  to  the  comparative  quietude 
and  serenity  of  the  vice-presidency. 

The  intimacy  then  formed  between  these  two  men  had 
its  later  important  results.  Although  acquainted  and  even 
personal  friends  before,  it  was  these  letters  and  these  con 
fidential  talks  that  made  each  man  a  great  admirer  of  the 
other.  Therefore  when,  early  in  the  spring  of  1900, 
efforts  were  initiated  by  opponents  of  Mr.  Payne  in  Wis 
consin  to  exclude  him  from  the  National  Committee, 
Governor  Roosevelt  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Mil 
waukee  Journal,  which  had  requested  his  opinion  of  this 
move: 

EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  ALBANY,  N.  Y.,  March  12,  1900. — Editor 
The  Milwaukee  Journal,  Milwaukee,  Wis.  I  most  earnestly  hope 
that  Mr.  Payne  will  be  re-elected  member  of  the  National  Republican 
Committee  and  cordially  endorse  every  word  that  Senator  Spooner 
has  said  about  him.  I  believe  that  every  Republican  that  has  the 
welfare  of  the  party  sincerely  at  heart  feels  that  it  would  be  little 
short  of  calamity  if  Mr.  Payne  were  not  to  continue  to  take  part  in 
directing  the  national  interests  of  the  party.  It  has  been  my  good 
fortune  to  be  thrown  with  him  somewhat  intimately.  I  have  felt  a 
constantly  increasing  respect  for  him,  not  only  for  his  keen  ability 
and  insight,  but  for  his  sense  of  the  real  national  needs — for  his  in 
tense  appreciation  that  only  by  serving  these  real  national  needs  can 
any  party  really  deserve  success. 

Philadelphia  was  the  place  fixed  by  the  National  Com 
mittee  for  the  meeting  in  1900  of  the  presidential  conven 
tion  of  the  Republican  party,  and  June  19  as  the  opening 
day.  Mr.  Payne,  as  one  of  the  sub-committee  of  the  Na 
tional  Committee,  was  early  on  the  ground  for  the  pre 
liminary  work.  Indeed,  he  had  been  in  Philadelphia  on 


110  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

June  10,  to  attend  a  banquet  given  to  the  committeemen 
by  the  Young  Republican  Club  of  that  city.  At  this 
gathering  Mr.  Payne  made  an  earnest  speech  intended  for 
a  far  wider  audience  than  listened  to  it,  cautioning  the 
party  throughout  the  country  against  over-confidence,  de 
ploring  the  factional  fights  in  the  party  which  threatened 
its  success  and  urging  that  new  issues  now  confronting 
the  party  be  met  resolutely  and  squarely.  This  speech  was 
broadly  copied  and  commented  upon.  The  Democrats 
exulted  that  so  shrewd  a  political  observer  should  feel  so 
despondent,  some  Republicans  claimed  that  Mr.  Payne 
had  the  blues,  while  others  declared  that  he  attached  too 
great  an  importance  to  petty  discords  in  Albany,  Saint 
Louis  and  Milwaukee.  The  truth  is,  that  Mr.  Payne — 
wise  general  that  he  was — was  following  his  usual  custom 
of  bracing  the  soldiers  for  the  fight  and  of  warning  them 
that  the  time  to  exult  was  when,  as  victors,  they  took  their 
armor  off. 

Following  this  gathering  Mr.  Payne  was  busy  by 
letter  and  telegram  in  declining  with  great  positiveness 
any  use  of  his  name  for  the  vice-presidential  nomination 
— a  use  which  not  a  few  admiring  friends  were  insisting 
upon. 

At  the  meetings  of  the  National  Committee  held  just 
previous  to  the  opening  of  the  convention,  Mr.  Payne  pre 
sided  in  the  absence  of  Chairman  Hanna,  who  was  late  in 
reaching  Philadelphia. 

The  nomination  of  Mr.  McKinley  for  the  presidency, 
so  long  foreshadowed,  was  a  comparatively  tame  affair. 
The  uncertainty  about  the  candidate  for  vice-president 
kept  committeemen  and  delegates  alike  alert.  Governor 
Roosevelt  was  in  attendance  upon  the  convention  as  a 


Me  KIN  LEY  AND  ROOSEVELT  111 

delegate.  During-  the  first  day,  June  10,  he  had  main 
tained  the  same  opposition  to  the  vice-presidential  nomina 
tion  which  he  had  exhibited  months  before  in  privacy  to 
Mr.  Payne  and  which  he  had  consistently  since  then  main 
tained.  As  the  New  York  Tribune  printed  during  the 
convention : 

Governor  Roosevelt  was  perfectly  honest  and  above  board  in 
the  position  he  has  taken  and  held,  that  he  did  not  want  the  vice- 
presidential  office.  Ke  was  absolutely  unprepared  for  the  over 
whelming  demand  for  his  nomination  he  was  to  be  called  on  to  face, 
and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  he  was  absolutely  overcome  by  it. 
As  delegation  after  delegation  came  to  him  and  urged  him  to  run, 
little  by  little  it  was  borne  in  on  him  that  he  must  respond  to  this 
demand  of  the  country  for  his  services. 

Governor  Roosevelt,  so  long  and  so  firmly  declining, 
had  accepted.  Senator  Cullom,  of  Illinois,  was  asked  the 
reason  of  this  and  he  answered :  "The  broadest  reason 
possible.  He  yields  to  the  wishes  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States."  Was  this  chance,  fate?  Nay,  the  Hand 
that  in  infinite  wisdom  did  not  interpose  to  shield  the 
illustrious  McKinley  from  the  nameless  assassin's  weapon, 
prepared,  through  the  clamorous  persistence  of  these  dele 
gates,  his  no  less  illustrious  successor ! 

What  happened  in  the  Wisconsin  delegation  in  the 
morning  of  June  20,  is  thus  described  in  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  of  the  same  day : 

At  eleven  o'clock  this  morning,  before  Gov.  Roosevelt  had  ar 
rived  at  his  headquarters,  news  came  of  a  blow  at  the  Governor's 
hope  of  escape,  aimed  by  Henry  C.  Payne  and  the  Wisconsin  dele 
gation.  Wisconsin  had  a  meeting,  and  hardly  were  the  doors  closed 
when  Mr.  Payne  arose,  and  in  a  vehement  speech  declared  that 
Roosevelt  would  be  the  nominee  of  the  Convention.  "It  is  time  this 
factional  business  in  New  York  State  should  be  settled  from  the 
outside,"  he  said.  "This  is  a  national,  not  a  state  gathering.  We 
are  here  to  nominate  a  national  ticket,  not  to  dicker  over  New  York 
State's  personal  affairs. "  (Applause.)  Then,  raising  his  hand,  he 


112  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

said  in  an  impressive  and  impassioned  manner:  "Before  Wisconsin 
is  reached  on  the  roll-call,  willingly  or  unwillingly  Theodore  Roose 
velt  will  have  received  75  per  cent,  of  the  votes  of  the  Convention. 
I  move  that  Wisconsin  join  the  popular  column  and  vote  for,  not 
New  York's  son,  but  the  nation's  son,  Theodore  Roosevelt." 

Amid  a  burst  of  applause  the  resolution  was  adopted  by  a  unan 
imous  vote.  Mr.  Payne,  when  spoken  to  after  the  meeting,  said: 
"I  believe  that  everything  points  to  Roosevelt's  nomination,  and  I 
don't  think  he  dares  refuse  it." 

McKinley  and  Roosevelt  being  the  nominees  of  the 
Convention,  it  became  the  duty  of  the  National  Committee 
to  undertake  the  task  of  electing-  them.  Mr.  Payne  had 
been  unanimously  named  by  the  Wisconsin  delegation  to 
succeed  himself  upon  the  National  Committee,  and  on 
June  21,  Chairman  Hanna  of  that  Committee  appointed 
the  following  as  the  new  Executive  Committee:  Mr. 
Payne;  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Manley,  of  Maine;  Mr.  Nathan  B. 
Scott,  of  West  Virginia;  Mr.  Harry  S.  New,  of  Indiana, 
and  Mr.  George  L.  Shoup,  of  Idaho.*  Mr.  Payne  was 
in  charge  of  the  western  headquarters  in  Chicago,  and 
from  there  the  work  of  the  campaign  was  directed.  Into 
its  details  this  narrative  need  not  go.  It  is  sufficient  to 
write  that  Mr.  Payne  followed  his  own  note  of  warning, 
that  he  assumed  no  confident  air  and  uttered  no  vain 
boastings,  that  the  voters  were  supplied  with  documents 
and  satisfied  with  speeches,  that  the  enemy's  moves  were 
checked  and  his  plans  thwarted,  and  that — the  fight  be 
ing  over — the  issue  was  awaited  with  the  serenity  that 
knows  no  fear. 

When  the  votes  were  counted  in  November,  1900,  it 
was  recorded  that  the  plurality  of  President  McKinley 

*A11  the  members  of  this  committee  were  warm  personal  as  well 
as  political  friends  of  Mr.  Payne.  No  more  sorrowful  letters  reached 
Mrs.  Payne  upon  the  death  of  her  husband  than  came  from  Messrs. 
Manley,  Scott  and  New. 


McKlNLEY  AND  ROOSEVELT  113 

over  Mr.  Bryan  was  861,373  votes;  that  in  the  electoral 
college  the  former  had  292  votes  and  the  latter  155  votes; 
that  the  former  carried  the  state  of  Wisconsin  by  a  plural 
ity  of  106,597  votes,  the  county  of  Milwaukee  by  a  plural 
ity  of  9,194  votes,  and  the  city  of  Milwaukee  by  a 
plurality  of  6,507  votes.  The  seven  Southern  states  men 
tioned  in  Mr.  Payne's  telegram  to  the  New  York  Press 
(see  page  102),  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Georgia, 
Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  South  Carolina,  cast  a  joint 
vote  of  166,298  ballots  for  McKinley  and  Roosevelt, 
while  the  state  of  Wisconsin  alone  cast  265,760  votes  for 
the  same  candidates. 

Soon  after  the  inauguration  of  President  McKinley, 
on  March  9,  1901,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  left  New  York 
on  a  trip  to  the  Mediterranean  and  Black  Seas.  On  their 
return  trip  they  reached  Naples,  April  22,  1901,  where 
they  left  their  vessel  and  traveled  leisurely  in  Italy,  France 
and  England. 

This  trip  and  consequent  freedom  from  responsibility 
and  care  had  been  rendered  obligatory  by  the  impaired 
condition  of  Mr.  Payne's  health.  For  some  five  years  or 
more  he  had  been  subject  to  fainting  spells  and  to  attacks 
believed  by  physicians  to  be  epileptical  in  their  nature,  and 
to  be  due  to  indigestion.  These  attacks  had  greatly  weak 
ened  his  constitution  and  caused  his  friends  to  view  with 
regret  any  assumption  of  responsibilities  which  gratified 
ambition  might  induce  him  to  accept. 

The  visit  of  President  McKinley  to  the  Pan-American 
Exposition  at  Buffalo,  New  York,  his  assassination,  his 
heroic  contest  with  death,  his  defeat,  and  the  administer 
ing  of  the  oath  of  office  in  Buffalo  to  Theodore  Roosevelt, 
his  successor — these  events  belong  to  history  and  need 
not  delay  these  pages. 


114  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XIV 


Postmaster*  (general 

In  obedience  to  his  determination  to  accept  the  Cabinet 
of  his  predecessor  and  to  retain  the  same  until  the  mem 
bers  should  themselves  desire  to  withdraw,  the  position  of 
postmaster-general  continued  with  President  McKinley's 
appointee,  Mr.  Charles  Emory  Smith,  under  the  adminis 
tration  of  President  Roosevelt,  until  the  close  of  the  year 
1901.  Mr.  Smith  then  resigning,  the  way  was  open  for 
the  President  to  name  a  cabinet  officer  of  his  own  choice, 
and  his  friend,  Mr.  Payne,  was  named.  The  appointment 
was  decided  upon  in  December,  1901 ;  he  was  nominated 
and  the  Senate  confirmed  the  nomination  January  8,  1902, 
and  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  by  Chief  Justice 
Fuller,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  Janu 
ary  15,  1902.  At  the  ceremony  were  present  the  Presi 
dent  and  members  of  his  cabinet,  and  other  officials,  and 
also  Mrs.  Roosevelt  and  Mrs.  Payne.  The  assistant  post 
masters-general  when  Mr.  Payne's  term  began  were  Mr. 
William  M.  Johnson,  Mr.  William  S.  Shallenberger,  Mr. 
Edwin  C.  Madden  and  Mr.  Joseph  L.  Bristow.  Mr. 
Francis  H.  Whitney,*  of  Milwaukee,  was  private  secre 
tary  to  the  Postmaster-General.  Mr.  Payne's  Washing- 

*Mr.  Whitney  began  his  service  with  Mr.  Payne  April  18,  1892, 
as  stenographer  and  clerk  and  was  for  many  years  his  confidential 
secretary  in  Milwaukee  before  the  theatre  of  his  valued  services 
was  transferred  to  Washington. 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  115 

ton  residence  was  at  Number  1523  H  Street,  an  historical 
house  now  connected  with  the  Arlington  Hotel. 

I  should  expand  this  volume  to  a  ponderous  octavo 
should  I  attempt  to  print  the  letters  and  telegrams  of  con 
gratulation  which  from  every  side  poured  in  upon  the 
newly  appointed  officer,  whom  his  intimates  now  slyly 
began  to  dub  General.  While  most  of  these  missives  were 
full  of  hope  and  promise  for  the  future,  there  ran  through 
some  the  minor  note  of  sorrow,  that  with  health  impaired 
and  constitution  far  from  rugged,  Mr.  Payne  should 
venture  to  assume  an  office  so  burdened  with  responsi 
bilities,  and  so  perplexing  with  details.  Yet  with  the 
ambitions  of  his  manhood  now  fully  realized  Mr.  Payne 
was  in  no  frame  of  mind  to  retreat,  and  he  entered  upon 
his  arduous  duties  in  happiness  and  with  zeal. 

His  long  incumbency  of  the  post  office  in  Milwaukee 
was  no  mean  schooling  for  his  more  exalted  position. 
The  files  of  the  United  States  Official  Postal  Guide  be 
ginning*  with  the  month  of  February,  1902,  exhibit  the 
vigor  and  efficiency  of  the  new  chief.  During  his  ad 
ministration  parcels  post  conventions  were  concluded  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  Bolivia,  Japan,  Norway  and 
the  colony  of  Hong  Kong,  the  parcels  post  convention 
with  Germany  modified  in  the  interest  of  American 
citizens,  and  a  postal  convention  concluded  with  Cuba. 
In  June,  IQO2,  the  entire  postal  service  was  grouped  into 
fifteen  geographical  divisions,  each  under  the  charge  of 
its  own  inspector,  and  the  rural  free  delivery  system  was 
organized  into  eight  divisions.*  By  later  orders  the  de- 


*S°p  the  R>"r'i"K       '  Reviews  for  Jnnnary.  1003,  Vo^mo  XXVTT, 
TV;/  -•  -v.;,  for  ,  npor;  the  r;:ral  free  cieii\c.ry  s>:tcm 

aimer  Ivii.  i~" civile  s  adiuujiaUatioii. 


116  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 


tails  of  this  latter  service  were  regulated  to  the  end  that 
boxes  properly  shielded  from  the  elements  should  be  used, 
and  that  carriers  should  be  prompt  and  be  not  impeded 
by  private  errands.  Among  the  improvements  made  were 
such  as  these:  provision  was  made  for  the  redemption  of 
uncanceled  and  unserviceable  postal  cards;  the  position  of 
physician,  except  in  the  largest  post  offices,  \vas  abolished ; 
the  tone  of  post  offices  was  improved  by  prohibiting  loaf 
ing,  disorderliness  and  profanity  about  the  buildings ;  rec 
ommendation  was  made  to  Congress  to  consolidate  mail 
matter  of  the  third  and  fourth  classes  as  blending  into  each 
other;  an  order  was  formulated  that  husband  and  wife 
should  not  both  draw  salaries  from  the  public  treasury,  a 
woman  employee  in  the  postal  department  being  expected 
to  resign  upon  her  marriage  with  another  employe ;  pro 
vision  was  made  that  reading  matter  in  raised  characters 
should  be  carried  through  the  mails  free  for  the  benefit  of 
the  blind;  approval  was  given  of  the  innovation  of  plac 
ing  the  representation  of  the  head  of  a  woman  upon  a  post 
age  stamp,  by  accepting  that  of  Martha  Washington  for 
the  eight  cents  stamp ;  post  offices  were  established  on  the 
canal  zone  at  Panama:  frequent  orders  were  issued  for 
bidding  the  use  of  the  mails  by,  or  the  benefits  of  the 
money  order  system  for,  proprietors  of  lottery  schemes, 
whether  in  the  United  States  or  abroad;  a  movement  was 
inaugurated  looking  to  the  exclusion  from  the  mails  of 
literature  promoting  the  sale  of  certain  kinds  of  patent 
medicines  and  nostrums;  regulations  were  provided  for 
the  mailing  of  identical  pieces  of  mail  of  the  third  and 
fourth  classes  without  the  affixing  of  stamps,  providing 
postage  had  been  prepaid  :  corrections  were  initiated  of  the 
abuses  growing  out  of  the  overcrowding  of  the  mails  with 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  117 

second  class  matter ;  mailing-tube  systems  were  installed 
in  some  of  the  larger  cities;  the  regulations  of  the  civil 
service  relative  to  promotions  were  enlarged  especially  in 
fourth  class  offices;  economy  of  administration  was  en 
forced;  adherence  to  rules  enjoined,  fidelity  recognized, 
dishonesty  punished.*  An  innovation  proposed  by  Mr. 
Payne  that  letter  boxes  be  placed  on  street  cars  was  op 
posed  by  labor  unions  on  the  ground  that  this  would  give 
street  cars  the  sanctity  of  government  mail  carriers  which 
might  lead  to  federal  interference  with  trolley  strikes. 

On  June  6,  1902,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  Shaw, 
Postmaster-General  Payne  and  Attorney-General  Knox 
were  appointedf  by  the  Congress  a  commission  to  acquire 
a  site  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  erection  of  a  fire 
proof  building  for  post  office  purposes.  Several  visits 
were  made  by  this  commission  to  the  city  of  New  York 
in  the  winter  of  1902-3.  It  was  evident,  however,  not 
only  that  the  present  office  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  city 
must  be  retained,  but  also  that  more  than  one  additional 
structure  was  needed  to  satisfy  the  enormous  business  of 
the  borough  of  Manhattan.  As  a  consequence  the  com 
mission  recommended  the  purchase  of  a  site  on  Eighth 
Avenue  between  Thirty-first  and  Thirty-third  Streets,  and 
also  the  lease  for  twenty-five  years,  with  an  option  for  a 

*For  the  various  rv^pes  of  litigation  growir1^  oiit  of  some  of 
Mr.  Vnyr.c's  imprc\  tni-j-'ts,  ree  Chicago  Bi'siaess  College  v.  Payne, 
2^  Appeal  (  ,;  Payne  v.* United  States  e:;  rel.  National 

kc.ihwv  I'"'  '\.:.any,  y">  Anpcal  Car.es..  D.  C.  ~8i ;  Payne  v. 

I)-j.!fx  &  G.ild  (,"••:;•'-••,'.  22  Anpcal  Crises,  D.  C.  2-0:  Payne  v. 
Bo.-.fihion,  22  •  D.  C.  23-;:  Hou«ht.')».  i'.  Payne,  194 

United  State"--  8  '*h  ?/.  Payne,  194  U.  S.  104.     See  ?1So  Letter  of 

tb<>   Postman ij?r-C  1  to  the   Senate,   February  26,   1902;    Review 

of  Rc'i-ic-'  \  ]pc2,  XXV,  20;  Review  of  Reviews,  January, 

1903,  XXViJ,  14. 

fSee  Section  13,  Chapter  1036,  Statutes  of  1902,  57th  Congress, 
First  Session. 


118  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

like  period  additional,  of  a  site  within  the  space  bounded 
by  Lexington  and  Madison  Avenues,  Forty-second  and 
Forty-sixth  Streets.  These  sites  were  selected  on  account 
of  their  contiguity  to  the  terminals  of  the  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York  Central  Railways  respectively,  and  with 
the  expectation  that  commodious  buildings  would  be 
erected  thereon  directly  over  the  tracks  of  these  railways 
so  that  mail  could  be  loaded  and  unloaded  without  wagon 
service.  The  plan  contemplated  that  these  two  new  offices 
with  the  present  down  town  office  should  constitute  "a 
three-in-one  post  office,"  the  three  structures  being  so  con 
nected  by  tubes  that  they  would  work  practically  as  one. 
Congress  was  satisfied  with  the  work  and  the  selection  of 
the  commission  and  made  appropriations*  for  the  purchase 
and  leasing  respectively  of  the  sites  chosen.  But  Mr. 
Payne  was  not  to  survive  to  see  even  the  beginnings  of 
these  gigantic  improvements. 

Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou,  Postmaster-General  in  suc 
cession  to  Mr.  Payne,  thus  closes  his  annual  report  for  the 
year  ended  June  30,  1905  : 

Of  the  seven  Postmasters-General  whom  I  have  had  the  privilege 
of  knowing  while  they  were  at  the  head  of  this  Department,  three 
are  now  dead.  I  served  under  two  of  these — Wilson  S.  Bissell  and 
William  L.  Wilson — and  was  fortunate  in  being  intimately  asso 
ciated  with  them.  I  see  no  impropriety  in  bearing  testimony  at  this 
time  to  the  loyalty  and  devotion  with  which  they  strove  for  the 
betterment  of  the  postal  service.  However  men  may  differ  as  to 
some  features  of  their  policies,  there  can  be  no  question  that  they 
strove  faithfully  to  maintain  the  best  traditions  of  the  Department. 
The  third— Henry  C.  Payne— though  embarrassed  by  grievous  physi 
cal  afflictions,  carried  the  burden  of  a  prolonged  and  exhausting 
investigation  with  self-sacrificing  fidelity,  and  since  I  have  had  charge 
of  the  Department  there  has  frequently  come  to  my  notice  official 
evidence  of  the  progress  made  during  his  administration. 

*By  Chapter  1759,  Statutes  of  1904,  page  434,  58th  Congress, 
Second  Session. 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  119 

In  a  speech  delivered  in  the  Senate,  April  9,  1904,  by 
Senator  Spooner,  upon  consideration  of  the  post  office  ap 
propriation  bill  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1905,  the 
following  words  were  uttered  by  him : 

Postmaster-General  Payne  is  a  citizen  of  Wisconsin.  At  the 
time  of  his  appointment  he  was  not  a  candidate  for  the  position,  nor 
did  I  seek  it  for  him,  although  I  knew  it  had  been  the  ambition 
of  his  life  to  be  Postmaster-General.  I  have  known  him  many  years, 
Mr.  President,  and  during  those  years  he  has  afforded  so  many 
evidences  of  the  possession  of  rare  executive  ability  as  to  place 
himself  in  that  regard  beyond  reach  of  successful  challenge.  He 
came  into  the  Postmaster-Generalship  unhappily  handicapped  to  some 
extent  by  ill  health,  but  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  here  that  no  man 
ever  entered  the  Cabinet  with  a  higher  ambition  to  render  good 
service  to  the  public,  and  to  achieve  the  distinction  which  able  and 
faithful  service  in  high  place  brings  to  one  who  renders  it,  than  he. 
His  sense  of  responsibility,  his  fidelity  to  duty,  led  him  to  disregard 
all  thought  of  personal  comfort  and  even  of  health  in  co-operating 
with  Mr.  Bristow  in  every  possible  way.  He  spent  the  long  summer 
at  his  desk,  without  regard  to  hours,  at  a  personal  risk,  which,  when 
assumed  by  a  soldier,  brings  with  it  credit  and  honor. 

Just  at  this  point  a  few  words  are  necessary  concern 
ing  the  relation  of  Mr.  Payne  to  the  reform  of  the  civil 
service.  Some  of  those  particularly  devoted  to  this  re 
form  have  been  accustomed  to  stigmatize  Mr.  Payne  as  a 
"politician,"  as  one  managing  the  huge  machinery  of  his 
great  office  to  advance  his  party  friends  and  to  overthrow 
his  foes.  To  such  stigmatizers  I  desire  to  commend  the 
consideration  of  the  following  document,  lengthy,  to  be 
sure,  and  perhaps  dry,  but  worthy  of  perusal : 

Report  of  Civil  Service  Commissioners  Procter  and  Cooley  to  the 
President,  June  24,  1903,  respecting  irregularities  which  occurred 
four  years  ago  in  the  Washington  post  office  and,  to  an  extent,  in  the 
Post  Office  Department  at  Washington;  together  with  detailed  state 
ment  relating  to  certain  irregularities  and  abuses  which  have  been 
cured  by  the  aid  and  co-operation  of  Postmaster-General  Payne. 

June  24,  1903. 
The  President. 

SIR  :     In  response  to  your  request,  this  commission  makes  re- 


120  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


port  respecting  irregularities  which  occurred  four  years  ago  in  the 
Washington  post  office  and  to  an  extent  in  the  Post  Office  Depart 
ment  at  Washington,  as  follows : 

1.  Whether   any   of  these   irregularities   have   occurred   during 
your  administration  without  a  prompt  stop  being  put  to  them. 

Answer :  No.  See  inclosed  memorandum  showing  the  prompt 
stoppage  of  these  irregularities  and  the  ways  in  which  the  competi 
tive  system  has  been  bettered  and  extended  in  the  postal  service  dur 
ing  your  administration. 

2.  Whether   the   present  postmaster   at  Washington   is,   in   our 
judgment,  responsible  for  the  wrongdoing  which  occurred  four  years 
ago. 

Answer :  The  commission  does  not  regard  him  as  responsible 
therefor,  inasmuch  as  he  was  carrying  out  the  orders  of  his  superior 
officers. 

3.  Whether  there  are  now  in  the  Post  Office  Department  or  the 
post  office   at  Washington   any  persons   illegally  employed   or   who 
should  be  removed  from  office. 

Answer :  No,  with  the  exception  of  the  person  occupying  the 
excepted  position  of  finance  clerk,  who  is  performing  alien  duties. 

The  evil  of  assigning  laborers  to  classified  work  is  the  growth 
of  years.  The  registration  regulations  adopted  and  the  determina 
tion  to  fill  all  vacancies  in  positions  of  laborers  doing  classified  work 
by  certification  from  the  registers  of  eligibles  will  prevent  this  evil 
in  the  future. 

The  relations  of  the  commission  with  the  Post  Office  Depart 
ment  and  with  the  postal  service  throughout  the  country  are  more 
satisfactory  from  a  civil  service  standpoint  than  ever  before,  as  shown 
by  the  detailed  statement  filed  with  this,  relating  to  certain  irregular 
ities  and  abuses  which  have  been  cured  by  the  aid  and  co-operation  of 
Postmaster-General  Payne. 

We  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servants, 

JOHN  R.  PROCTER, 
ALFORD  W.  COOLEY, 

Commissioners. 

Since  Postmaster-General  Payne  has  been  in  charge  of  the  Post 
Office  Department  the  following  betterments  have  been  made  : 

In  October  last  the  Department  joined  the  commission  in  estab 
lishing  a  regulation  requiring  persons  brought  into  the  classified 
service  by  the  establishment  of  free  delivery  at  a  post  office  to  pass 
an  examination  before  transfer  to  other  post  offices. 

The  Department  has  assisted  the  commission  in  perfecting  the 
service  records  of  post  offices  and  adopted  a  system  of  reporting  to 


POSTMASTER-GENERAL  121 


the  commission  directly  from  the  Department  all  changes  occurring 
in  the  status  of  employes  in  the  post  office  service. 

The  appointment  of  laborers  for  assignment  to  classified  work 
has  ceased. 

The  Washington  postmaster  states  that  General  Payne  ha-  never 
directed,  or  even  suggested,  the  appointment  of  laborers  in  the 
Washington  po>t  office,  as  had  formerly  been  done. 

Shortly  after  General  Payne  became  Postmaster-General  he  in 
itiated  the  policy  of  continuing  fourth  class  postmasters  beyond  the 
term  of  four  years,  and  not  removing  them  except  for  some  reason 
other  tiK'i'  political,  thus  making  their  terms  of  office  in  fact,  as  they 
are  m  la\v.  independent  of  changes  of  Administration.  This  is  one 
of  the  mo- 1  important  advances  which  the  merit  system  has  made  in 
recent  years. 

The  Post  Office  Department  has  made  a  much  larger  number 
of  appointments  through  open  competitive  examinations  under  the 
civil  service  rules  in  the  same  space  of  time  than  ever  before,  and  the 
proportion  of  reinstatements  and  transfers  has  decreased.  From  Au 
gust.  1900,  to  December,  1901,  immediately  preceding  General 
Paync\>  appointment,  7.362  appointments  were  made  through  com- 
petuion  in  local  post  offices.  During  the  like  period  of  seventeen 
months  immediately  following,  9,^54  such  appointments  were  made, 
an  increase  of  almost  2.500.  So,  also,  in  the  Post  Office  Department 
during  the  same  period  preceding  General  Payne's  appointment  50 
appointments  were  made  through  competition,  while  in  the  like  period 
following  119  were  made. 

The  number  of  temporary  appointments  at  post  offices  without 
examination  has  been  reduced.  In  the  seventeen  months  preceding 
his  appointment  1,131  such  appointments  were  made,  as  against  929 
in  the  seventeen  months  following.  Prior  to  May,  1902,  the  Depart 
ment  made  temporary  appointments  outside  the  examinations  in  post 
offices  in  all  cases  in  which  there  were  not  as  many  as  three  eligibles 
en  the  register.  It  was  not  until  General  Payne  became  Postmaster- 
General  that  the  commission  could  get  the  Department  to  consent  to 
a  change  in  this  practice,  though  repeated  conferences  were  had 
with  the  Department  with  that  end  in  \  icw. 

General  Payne  agreed  with  the  commission  that  the  rules  should 
be  changed,  and  since  May  31,  1902.  temporary  appointments  are 
made  from  the  register.  The  commission  found  that  it  was  difficult 
to  secure  eligibles  at  certain  offices,  notwithstanding  due  announce 
ment  had  been  made,  and  suggested  to  the  Department  the  advisability 
of  utilizing  as  far  as  possible  eligibles  on  the  departmental  and  rail 
way-mail  registers.  In  this  the  Department  acquiesced.  The  result 
of  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  Department  has  been  to  materially 
lessen  the  number  of  temporary  appointments. 


122  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


Notwithstanding  public  announcement  of  examinations,  it  was 
difficult  at  some  second-class  pe.st  oihces  to  secure  enough  eligibles 
to  meet  the  ::eeds  of  the  ser.  ice.  It  was  thought  that  ihih  was 
occasioned,  in  some  measure,  by  failure  on  the  part  of  the  postmasters 
to  give  encouragement  to  applicants.  Upon  inviting  the  Depart 
ment's  attention  to  this  matter,  a  circular  was  issued  to  postmasters 
directing  that  all  proper  means  be  taken  to  encourage  persons  to 
enter  the  examinations,  and  that  they  should  in  no  way  dissuade 
applicants  or  use  meant-,  to  induce  them  to  decline  appointment  after 
certification.  This  will  insure  a  more  general  co-operation  by  post 
masters  in  carrying  out  the  rules  and  of  lessening  the  number  of 
temporary  appointments. 

The  Department  ha^  also  agiced  thai  for  the  900  smaller  p^st 
offices  certiliuites  for  appor.lniei.t  shall  be  issued  directly  by  the 
commission,  instead  of  by  local  secretaries  of  examining  boards,  to 
enable  the  commission  to  deal  more  directly  with  the  Department  and 
expedite  the  public  business. 

Although  all  the  paragraphs  of  the  foregoing  report 
invite  the  reader's  careful  attention,  two  sentences  there 
from  I  desire  to  cull  out  from  their  fine  type  and  to  com 
ment  upon  briefly.  They  read  : 

Shortly  after  General  Payne  became  Postmaster-General  he  in 
itiated  the  policy  of  continuing  fourth-class  postmasters  beyond  the 
term  of  four  years,  nnd  not  removing  them  except  for  some  reason 
other  than  political,  thus  making  their  terms  of  office  in  fact,  as  they 
are  in  law,  independent  of  changes  of  Administration.  This  is  one 
of  the  most  important  advances  which  the  merit  system  has  made  in 
recent  years. 

This  change  was  at  first  bitterly  resented  by  those 
congressmen  who  feared  that  with  the  consequent  loss  of 
patronage  would  ensue  the  loss  of  their  claim  upon  votes. 
But  as  the  innovation  worked  and  the  law-makers  experi 
enced  freedom  from  petty  strifes  of  ''outs"  against  the 
"ins,"  and  found  how  much  more  time  remained  to  them 
for  the  performance  of  their  legitimate  duties,  they  be 
gan  gladly  to  accept  the  new  betterment,  and  some  had  the 
grace  frankly  to  thank  the  Postmaster-General  for  the 
change. 

And  yet  this  same  Postmaster-General  had  formerly 
and  frequently  and  openly  been  hailed  as  the  head  and 
front  of  spoils  and  the  spoils  system ! 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       123 


CHAPTER  XV 


3nt)e0tigation  of  tfte  post  Office  Department 

The  subject  of  a.  minute  inquiry  into  the  affairs  of  this 
department  and  into  the  method  of  doing  business  therein 
was  first  broached  in  December,  1902,  in  conversations 
between  the  Postmaster-General  and  Mr.  Eugene  F.  Loud, 
member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  California 
and  chairman  of  the  House  Committee  on  the  post  office 
and  post-roads.  As  a  result  of  these  interviews  which  ran 
far  into  the  succeeding  month,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
congressional  appropriation  for  miscellaneous  items  in  the 
post  office  department  should  be  increased  from  the  cus 
tomary  estimate  of  one  thousand  dollars,  to  the  sum  of 
six  thousand  dollars,  thus  providing  ample  funds  for  a 
wide  and  deep  probe. 

As  the  newspapers  antagonistic  to  the  Republican  ad 
ministration  and  to  Mr.  Payne,  often  asserted  that  he  was 
hostile  to  the  investigation  and  attempted  to  thwart  it,  it 
is  proper  to  record  here  that  he  assisted  at  its  very  initia 
tion.  The  following  statement  bearing  upon  this  point, 
dated  August  21,  1903,  is  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Jacob  H. 
Bromwell,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  who  was  a  representative 
from  December  3,  1894,  to  March  4,  1903,  and  who  at 
the  period  under  consideration  was  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee  on  the  post  office  and  post-roads : 

I  recall  very  distinctly  that  in  the  preparation  of  the  last  appro 
priation  bill  and  before  the  sub-committee  (of  which  I  was  a  mem 
ber)  had  commenced  work  upon  it,  in  a  private  conversation  with  Mr. 


124  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Loud  he  informed  me  that  he  had  discussed  with  the  Postmaster- 
General  the  advisability  of  a  mere  thorough  investigation  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  than  had  been  possible  in  the  usual  course 
before,  and  that  the  Postmaster-General  was  very  earnest  in  his 
desire  that  the  item  for  special  inspection,  included  in  the  ''Miscel 
laneous  Items"  of  the  appropriation  bill,  should  be  increased  to 
such  an  amount  as  would  give  him  ample  means  for  this  purpose, 
and  suggested  that  the  item  be  increased  from  one  thousand  to  six 
thousand  dollars. 

Mr.  Loud  stated  that  it  was  thought  advisable  that  no  public 
atU'.ntion  should  be  drawn  to  this  proposed  increase  in  the  item,  for 
the  reason  that  it  might  serve  as  a  warning  and  put  upon  their 
guard  any  employes  or  attaches  of  the  Department,  or  others,  who 
might  have  been  guilty  of  irregularities,  and  that  it  was  to  the  pub 
lic  interest  that  the  increase  should  be  put  in  the  bill  as  quietly  as 
possible,  so  as  to  attiact  little  or  no  attention  or  comment. 

It  was  understood  that  this  investigation  was  to  be  very  thor 
ough  and  might  be  quite  prolonged,  reaching  over  a  number  of 
months,  and  that,  while  the  appropriation  would  not  itself  become 
available  until  after  July  ist,  1903,  yet  it  would  be  necessary  to  have 
tin's  increase  in  order  to  continue  whatever  work  might  be  started 
in  this  line  before  that  date. 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion  of  Mr.  Loud,  he  and  I  put 
the  item  in  the  appropriation  bill,  as  prepared  by  the  sub-committee, 
with  a  mere  statement  that  it  was  desired  by  the  Department,  but 
giving  no  explanation.  The  sub-committee  had  such  confidence  in 
Mr.  Loud  that  without  inquiry  they  endorsed  this  increase,  it  went 
into  the  bill,  was  reported  to  the  committee,  there  passed  without  any 
comment,  and  was  enacted  into  law. 

I  know  positively  that  this  request  and  the  proposed  investiga 
tion  had  been  determined  upon  by  the  Postmaster-General  long  be 
fore  there  had  beer,  any  newspaper  or  other  comment  upon  possible 
irregularities  in  the  Department. 

The  investigation  having  been  determined  upon,  the 
details  were  frequently  discussed  by  Mr.  Payne  with 
President  Roosevelt.  Two  things  were  by  the  President, 
Mr.  Payne  and  Mr.  Loud  deemed  wise ;  that  the  investiga 
tion  should  he  delayed  until  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
and  that  it  should  be  conducted  by  Mr.  Joseph  L.  Bristow, 
then  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  who  had  in 
1899  investigated  the  Cuban  postal  frauds. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       125 

Congress  having  adjourned  March  4,  1903,  Mr.  Payne 
formulated  his  instructions  to  Mr.  Bristow  in  a  letter 
dated  March  7,  1903.  These  instructions  were  accom 
panied  by  oral  suggestions  brought  out  in  an  interview 
between  these  two  officials  with  President  Roosevelt.  In 
a  second  interview  among  these  three  it  was  emphatically 
understood  that  the  inquiry  was  to  proceed  searchingly 
and  vigorously  under  the  direct  charge  of  Mr.  Bristow 
and  that  all  of  the  inspectors  necessary  to  a  thorough 
pursuit  were  to  be  called  to  his  aid. 

Coincident  with  these  acts  was  a  demand  by  the  Post 
master-General  for  the  resignation  of  James  N.  Tyner, 
then  Assistant  Attorney-General  for  the  Post  Office  De 
partment.  At  this  time  Mr.  Tyner  was  seventy-seven 
years  of  age  and  the  Department  had  long  been  em 
barrassed  by  reason  of  his  helpless  condition,  his  failure 
of  executive  ability  and  his  inaction  in  the  efforts  of  the 
Department  to  ascertain  the  truth  or  falsity  of  certain  in 
sinuations  and  charges  against  the  integrity  of  the  De 
partment.  The  resignation  and  its  acceptance  bear  date 
March  8,  1903,  to  take  effect  at  a  somewhat  later  period. 
Although  the  evils  supposed  to  exist  and  afterwards 
brought  to  view  long  antedated  Mr.  Payne's  tenure  of 
office  and  belonged  chiefly  to  the  period  of  the  war  with 
Spain,  yet  the  suspicions  against  members  of  the  Depart 
ment  long  in  the  service,  high  in  authority,  with  sup 
posedly  honored  names  and  unstained  reputations,  dis 
tressed  Mr.  Payne  greatly  and  accentuated  his  lono-  exist 
ing  physical  ailments,  but  never  abated  his  determination 
that  the  searchlight  should  be  clear,  penetrating  and  un 
sparing. 


126  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

The  matter  being  under  way,  Mr.  Payne,  on  the  urgent 
advice  of  his  physician,  left  Washington,  March  10,  1903, 
for  a  trip  of  rehabilitation  in  the  West  Indies.  On  April 
13  he  returned  to  his  post  somewhat  refreshed  by  his  in 
action  and  finding  great  need  for  his  recuperated  strength. 

It  appeared  that,  during  Mr.  Payne's  absence,  George 
W.  Beavers,  General  Superintendent,  Division  of  Salary 
and  Allowance,  afterwards  indicted,  had  resigned  his 
office  March  31,  1903,  and  his  resignation  had  been  ac 
cepted  by  the  acting  Postmaster-General.  It  appeared 
also  that  an  impression  was  industriously  circulated  that 
Mr.  Payne  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  investigation. 
This  impression  was  so  pervading  and  so  untrue  that  Mr. 
Payne  felt  moved  to  issue  a  brief  public  statement.  It  was 
prepared  on  April  13,  1903,  the  day  of  his  return  from 
his  trip,  and  appeared  the  next  day  in  the  Washington 
Post.  It  was  as  follows  : 

During  the  months  of  January  and  February  information  and 
reports  reached  me,  which  I  deemed  it  for  the  public  interest  to 
investigate,  and  I,  personally,  gathered  such  information  and  facts 
as  would  enable  the  proper  officers  of  the  Department  to  undertake 
a  thorough  investigation  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of  these  reports. 
I  directed  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General  Bristow  to  take  the 
proper  steps  to  institute  the  necessary  inquiry,  using  for  that  purpose 
the  post  office  inspectors'  division  and  such  other  methods  as  would 
thoroughly  ascertain  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  charges  or  insinua 
tions  made,  and  he  was  instructed  to  proceed  promptly  and  with 
vigor  during  my  absence.  Since  my  return  this  morning,  I  have 
not  seen  General  Bristow,  so  that  I  am  not  advised  of  the  progress 
made.  The  investigation  will  continue  and  if  any  wrong-doing  is 
disclosed,  the  parties  guilty  of  such  wrong-doing  will  be  summarily 
dealt  with.  If  the  system  or  method  of  doing  business  in  the  De 
partment  is  faulty,  the  proper  remedies  will  be  applied  without  fear 
or  favor.  I  inaugurated  the  investigation  with  the  determination 
that  it  should  be  exhaustive.  It  is  proper  for  me  to  add  that  I  hid 
before  the  President  the  information  which  I  had  in  my  possession, 
and  that  he  fully  approved  of  the  action  proposed  by  me. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       127 


Meanwhile  the  investigation  was  proceeding  and  in 
terested  officials  were  becoming  restive.  In  the  afternoon 
of  April  22,  1903 — Mr.  Tyner's  official  connection  with 
the  office  not  then  ending — his  wife  and  her.  sister,  the 
mother  of  Harrison  J.  Barrett,  assistant  to  Mr.  Tyner, 
called  at  his  office  in  the  Department  and  in  a  surreptitious 
manner  opened  the  safe  and  carried  away  a  large  bundle 
of  papers  and  documents.  Within  a  few  moments  Mr. 
Payne  learned  of  the  act  and  sent  an  officer  forthwith  to 
Mr.  Tyner's  residence  to  demand  restitution.  This,  and 
inspection  of  the  abstracted  writings,  were  alike  refused. 
Mr.  Tyner  was  thereupon  removed  from  office.  His  rep 
resentatives,  Mr.  R.  Ross  Perry  and  Mr.  Louis  T.  Miche- 
ner,  on  April  24,  delivered  a  package  of  documents  at  the 
Department,  which  were  carefully  inspected  by  Mr.  Payne 
and  Mr.  Bristow,  with  Mr.  Tyner's  attorneys.  The  writ 
ings  personal  to  Mr.  Tyner  were  returned ;  the  remainder, 
with  the  facts  concerning  Mr.  Tyner,  were  laid  before  the 
Grand  Jury. 

Upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox,  the 
Attorney-General,  whom  Mr.  Payne  consulted,  Mr. 
Charles  H.  Robb,  of  Bellows  Falls,  Vermont,  was  ap 
pointed  Mr.  Tyner's  successor,  and  proved  an  active, 
vigilant  and  capable  official. 

Public  clamor  concerning  the  exposures  in  the  Post 
Office  Department  was  intensified  by  charges  persistently 
thrust  forward  against  the  integrity  of  the  Washington 
city  post  office.  These,  popularly  known  as  the  Tulloch 
charges,  emanated  from  Mr.  Seymour  W.  Tulloch,  who 
had  been  cashier  in  the  Washington  city  post  office  and 
had  been  discharged  when  Mr.  James  P.  Willett  gave  way 
to  Mr.  John  A.  Merritt,  as  postmaster,  June  30,  1899. 


128  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

These  charges  had  generally  been  thought  the  offspring 
of  a  splenetic  desire  for  revenge,  and  had  not  been  deemed 
worthy  of  full  investigation  by  Mr.  Payne's  predecessor, 
Mr.  Charles  Emory  Smith.  They  took  the  shape  of 
definite  assertions  in  an  interview  with  Mr.  Tulloch  in  the 
Washington  Post  of  the  morning  of  May  i,  1903.  That 
same  day  upon  perusing  the  interview  Mr.  Payne  wrote 
to  Mr.  Bristow,  who  had  been  connected  with  the  Post 
Office  Department  since  April  i,  1897,  reciting  some  of 
the  assertions  of  Tulloch  as  to  the  city  office  in  Washing 
ton,  and  inquiring  as  to  their  truth.  Upon  the  same  day 
Mr.  Payne  wrote  to  Mr.  Merritt  concerning  the  Tulloch 
charges,  stating: 

This  is  a  direct  reflection  upon  the  integrity  of  yo;-r  office,  as 
well  as  upon  the  administration  of  the  Post  OrfK.e  Department 
As  I  intend  to  look  into  the  case  somewhat,  I  shall  he  <>;Uid  to  have 
you  advise  me  what,  if  any,  truth  or  lack  of  truth  the! c  is  in  trie 
statement  referred  to,  I  enclose  herewith  a  copy  of  the  article  re 
ferred  to. 

Upon  May  2,  Mr.  Payne  wrote  to  Mr.  John  R.  Proc 
ter,  president  of  the  United  States  Civil  Service  Com 
mission,  in  reference  to  the  Tulloch  statement : 

Among  other  things,  it  is  stated  that  the  "civil  set  vice  can  al 
ways  be  gotten  round  when  necessary,  as  seen  in  the  appointment  of 
cleaners,  charwomen,  laborers,  financial  clerks,  auditors,  mechanics, 
and  ether  exccpted  persons,  irrespective  of  the  duties  performed,  or 
whether  any  duties  arc  performed." 

The  reply  of  Mr.  Bristow,  under  date  of  May  4,  1903, 
was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  lead  Mr.  Payne,  upon  May  5, 
1903,  to  address  a  brief  note  to  Mr.  Tulloch.  This  note 
contained  this  paragraph : 

I  sh"Jl  1:.  ~.eive  from  yon  any  statement  which  you 

are  willing  to  make  in  wiif'-.r,  accompanied  by  ary  papers,  docu 
ments  or  evidence  conf  rrr-atory  of  the-  charges  which  have  appeared 

in  the  "Washington  P;:sf. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       129 

Mr.  Tulloch's  reply,  of  May  7,  1903,  being  incon 
sequential,  not  to  say  impertinent,  Mr.  Payne  on  May  9 
requested  Mr.  Bristow  in  writing  to  "call  upon  Mr.  Tul 
loch  at  your  earliest  convenience  and  ask  him  to  give  you 
any  statement  which  he  is  willing  to  make  in  writing,  ac 
companied  by  any  papers,  documents  or  evidence  con 
firmatory  of  the  charges  which  he  has  made,  to  the  end 
that  they  may  be  enquired  into,  and  if  it  is  found  that  any 
irregularities  exist,  that  they  may  be  corrected." 

Mr.  Bristow  was  successful  and  Mr.  Tulloch  sub 
mitted  to  the  Postmaster-General,  under  date  of  May  15, 
1903,  fifty  typewritten  pages  of  matter,  confessedly  a 
statement  of  conditions,  rather  than  details,  and  claiming 
that  "a  full  and  complete  statement  would  require  a  com 
mentary  upon  the  pay  rolls,  vouchers  and  records  of  the 
Washington  city  post  office  for  a  period  of  upwards  of 
two  years  or  more  previous  to  June  30,  1899."  It  was 
concerning  this  bulky  document  that  Mr.  Payne  uttered 
an  observation  "hot  air."  The  private  secretary  of  Mr. 
Payne,  Mr.  Whitney,  thus  records  the  incident : 

Mr.  Payne's  remark  applied  to  Tulloch's  charges  against  the 
Washington  post  office  only,  which  were  very  voluminous,  but  in 
certain  antagonistic  newspapers  it  was  made  to  apply  to  the  entire 
Department  investigation  charges.  I  was  present  when  the  remark 
was  made.  The  newspaper  men  had  been  advised  of  the  Tulloch 
charges  and  had  been  awaiting  with  some  curiosity  the  result  of  the 
Postmaster-General's  perusal  of  them.  He  held  the  mass  of  type 
written  pages  in  his  hand  while  talking  with  the  newspaper  men  and 
remarked  that  after  having  gone  over  the  text  he  believed  that  about 
one-tenth  was  worthy  of  serious  consideration,  but  that  the  other 
nine-tenths  were  simply  "hot  air."  I  have  always  believed  he  meant 
that  Tulloch  could  have  boiled  down  his  text  to  about  one-tenth  and 
still  have  preferred  all  of  his  charges.  It  contained  many  unneces 
sarily  lengthy  discourses,  and  by  its  length  naturally  attracted  more 
attention  to  Mr.  Tulloch  when  printed  in  the  Washington  Post. 


130  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  that  Mr.  Tulloch's  state 
ment  was  ignored.  The  opposite  was  the  fact.  Mr. 
Payne  caused  copies  of  it  to  be  made  and  on  May  19  and 
May  20  these  were  sent  to  Mr.  Charles  Emory  Smith, 
former  postmaster-general,  to  Mr.  Robert  J.  Tracewell, 
comptroller  of  the  United  States  treasury,  to  Mr.  Merritt, 
to  Mr.  John  W.  Griggs,  former  attorney-general,  to  Mr. 
Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  former  assistant  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  to  Mr.  Perry  S.  Heath,  former  first  assistant 
postmaster-general,  and  to  Mr.  Henry  A.  Castle,  auditor 
for  the  post  office  department,  requesting  from  these  per 
sons  such  statements  or  explanations  as  would  throw  light 
upon  the  subject  matter.  What  disposition  was  made  of 
the  replies  soon  appears. 

These  chronological  data  have  been  purposely  minute, 
that  they  might  establish  these  two  points  :  that  Mr.  Payne 
initiated  and  actively  pushed  the  investigation  in  his  de 
partment,  and  that  the  remark  uttered  by  him,  referred  to 
above,  had  no  relation  to  the  frauds  he  was  himself  un 
earthing,  but  did  relate  either  to  the  vagueness  or  to  the 
prolixity  of  the  Tulloch  statement  against  the  Washing 
ton  city  post  office. 

It  remains  now  to  note  briefly  the  results  of  the  in 
vestigations.  As  the  exposures  of  frauds  were  from  time 
to  time  reported  to  the  Postmaster-General  they  were  re 
ferred  to  the  office  of  the  Attorney-General  for  the  re 
quisite  action.  On  June  24,  1903,  Mr.  Charles  J.  Bona 
parte,  of  Baltimore,  and  Mr.  Holmes  Conrad,  of  Wash 
ington,  were  appointed  by  the  President  special  assistants 
to  the  Attorney-General  to  aid  him  in  the  work  of  obtain 
ing  evidence,  securing  indictments  and  prosecuting  all  per 
sons  criminally  connected  with  the  department  scandals 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       131 

and  frauds.  To  these  same  gentlemen,  on  July  17  and 
July  21,  1903,  were  referred  the  Tulloch  charges  against 
the  Washington  city  post  office,  including  the  replies  re 
ceived  from  all  the  persons  to  whom  copies  of  the  Tulloch 
statement  of  May  15,  1903,  had  been  sent  or  from  those 
whose  attention  had  been  called  to  the  Tulloch  interview 
of  May  i,  1903. 

As  to  the  Tulloch  interview  and  statement  Messrs. 
Bonaparte  and  Conrad  reported  to  the  Attorney-General. 
With  regard  to  the  ''hot  air"  criticism  of  the  Tulloch 
statement,  made  by  Mr.  Payne,  the  criticism  was  sus 
tained  by  them,  although  their  comment  is  framed  in  more 
laborious,  and  in  strictly  legal,  although  not  in  any  more 
expressive,  phraseology. 

With  regard  to  the  facts  Messrs.  Bonaparte  and  Con 
rad  found  that  deplorable  and  gravely  discreditable  abuses 
existed  in  the  Washington  post  office  and  in  the  office  of 
the  First  Assistant  Postmaster-General  during  the  years 
1898,  1899  and  1900,  that  these  abuses  involved  conduct 
on  the  part  of  various  officials  often  illegal  and  perhaps 
criminal,  and  that  the  statute  of  limitations  had  run 
against  these  abuses  before  the  Tulloch  interview  on  May 
I,  1903.  Criticism  was  passed  upon  certain  officials  whose 
names  are  not  pertinent  to  this  biography  and  recom 
mendation  was  made  that  an  investigation  be  ordered,  if 
not  already  ordered,  of  the  post  office  at  Washington,  and 
at  New  York,  and  of  the  office  of  First  Assistant  Post 
master-General  within  the  just  preceding  three  years. 

As  to  the  immediate  results  of  the  investigation 
initiated  by  Mr.  Payne  into  the  frauds  in  the  Post  Office 
Department : 

i.     August  W.  Machen,  of  Ohio,  General  Superin- 


132  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

tendent  of  the  Free  Delivery  System,  was  removed  for 
malfeasance  and  tried  in  two  cases.  In  the  first  he  was 
found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  two  years  in  the  peni 
tentiary  and  fined  ten  thousand  dollars.  In  the  second 
case  he  pleaded  guilty  and  received  two  years  additional. 
He  is  now  in  the  penitentiary  at  Moundsville,  West 
Virginia. 

2.  George   W.    Beavers,   who   resigned   March   31, 
1903,  pleaded  guilty  to  frauds  upon  the  government  and 
was  sentenced  to  two  years  in  the  penitentiary  at  Mounds 
ville. 

3.  James  N.  Tyner  was  tried  May  2,  1904,  for  "con 
spiracy  to  defraud  the  United  States,  conspiracy  to  com 
mit  the  offense  of  misconduct  in  office  and  conspiracy  to 
commit  the  offense  of  bribery."     He  was  acquitted.     It 
was  the  opinion  of  the  Postmaster-General  that  Mr.  Ty 
ner  would  have  been  convkted  had  not  evidence  been 
abstracted  when  the  papers  were  removed  as  hereinbefore 
related.     He  died  in  1904,  aged  seventy-eight  years. 

4.  Harrison    J.    Barrett,    assistant    to    Mr.    Tyner, 
nephew  of  Mrs.  Tyner,  was  tried  at  the  same  time  with 
Mr.  Tyner  and  acquitted.     The  particulars  of  the  charges 
against  Mr.  Barrett  are  set  out  in  23  Appeal  Cases,  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  page  324. 

5.  Thomas  W.   McGregor,  clerk  in  charge  of  con 
tract  supplies  and  accounts,  free  delivery  service,  was  con 
victed  and  sentenced  to  two  years  in  the  Maryland  peni 
tentiary  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  one  thousand  dollars. 

6.  Ellsworth  Upton,  order  clerk,  free  delivery  serv 
ice,  was  sentenced  to  one  year  in  the  Baltimore  jail  and  to 
pay  a  fine  of  one  thousand  dollars. 

7.  James  W.  Erwin,  assistant  superintendent  free  de- 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       133 

livery  service,  San  Francisco,  was  indicted,  but  was  dis 
charged  by  order  of  the  California  court,  which  refused 
to  order  his  transfer  to  the  District  of  Columbia,  where 
an  indictment  against  him  is  still  pending. 

In  addition  to  these  persons,  all  whose  terms  of  serv 
ice  antedated  Mr.  Payne's  official  career  in  Washington, 
numerous  other  offenders  of  calibre  great  and  small  re 
ceived  short  shrift  in  the  shape  of  instant  discharge.  The 
Department  investigation  was  practically  closed  on  Octo 
ber  24,  1903,  when  the  report  of  Mr.  Bristow  was  sub 
mitted  to  the  Postmaster-General.  The  moral  effect  of 
this  investigation  was  tremendous  and  far  reaching,  but 
its  lasting  and  salutary  benefits  Mr.  Payne  was  not,  alas ! 
to  live  to  enjoy. 

After  thoroughly  reading  and  digesting  this  report 
Mr.  Payne,  on  November  3,  1903,  wrote  to  Mr.  Bristow 
a  commendatory  letter,  to  which  he  received  the  follow 
ing  reply : 

OFFICE  OF  FOURTH  ASSISTANT  POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  November  4,  1903. 
MY  DEAR  GENERAL  PAYNE: 

In  response  to  your  letter  of  November  3,  commending  the  work 
of  myself  and  the  inspectors  in  connection  with  the  recent  investiga 
tion,  I  appreciate  very  much  your  kind  expressions  of  approval.  I 
desire  to  thank  you  personally  for  the  sincere  and  earnest  support 
which  I  received  from  you  during  the  entire  progress  of  the  in 
vestigation.  Without  such  support  from  the  head  of  the  Department 
the  investigation  could  not  have  succeeded  as  it  did. 
Very  truly  yours, 

J.  L.  BRISTOW, 

Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General. 
The  Postmaster-General. 

It  becomes  this  narrative  now  to  make  some  references 
from  other  pens,  bearing  directly  or  indirectly  upon  the 
conduct  of  the  investigation.  With  regard  to  its  initia- 


134  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

tion  there  follows  the  important  part  of  a  letter  written 
May  5,  1903,  to  the  Washington  Post  by  Congressman 
Loud: 

On  yesterday  I  was  interviewed  by  the  representatives  of  several 
of  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  in  which  interview  I  took  occasion 
to  make  a  statement  regarding  the  investigation  now  going  on  in  the 
Post  Office  Department,  which  I  thought  was  but  an  act  of  justice  to 
the  Department.  The  statement  was  considered  particularly  im 
portant  by  me  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  there  were  but  two  men, 
besides  myself,  in  the  country  who  could  have  known  the  absolute 
facts  regarding  the  situation.  The  statements  made  by  me  are  in 
substance  as  follows : 

Many  newspapers  have  repeatedly  stated  that  the  present  in 
vestigation  was  not  instituted  until  after  certain  pressure  had  been 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  Department.  Early  in  the  winter — it  must 
have  been  in  December — the  present  Postmaster-General  (Mr. 
Payne)  and  myself  had  many  consultations  regarding  the  postal 
service,  and  as  a  result  of  these  interviews  it  was  determined,  as 
soon  as  possible  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  that  an  in 
vestigation  should  be  made  of  the  service.  Mr.  Payne  was  in  thor 
ough  accord  with  me  regarding  the  advisability  of  this  investiga 
tion.  I  recommended  that  such  investigation  should  not  commence 
until  after  Congress  adjourned.  There  are  many  reasons,  which  it 
is  unnecessary  here  to  enumerate,  why  such  a  time  should  have  been 
selected.  The  proof  that  this  investigation  was  determined  upon  by 
the  Department  is  to  be  found  in  the  miscellaneous  items  reported 
in  the  post  office  appropriation  bill  in  January.  It  heretofore  had 
been  one  thousand  dollars.  That  item  was  increased  to  six  thousand 
dollars  for  the  express  purpose  of  using,  if  necessary,  means  outside 
of  the  Post  Office  Department  itself  in  carrying  on  the  investigation. 
The  reasons  for  the  increase  in  this  appropriation  were  known  only 
to  the  Postmaster-General,  Mr.  Bromwell,  of  Ohio,  and  myself. 

The  Washington  Post,  which  so  often  had  commented 
upon  the  investigation  during  its  progress,  in  an  impartial 
yet  sympathetic  sketch  of  Mr.  Payne,  printed,  upon  the 
morning  after  his  death,  the  following : 

Mr.  Payne  had  been  unwilling  to  believe  that  his  department 
could  harbor  such  irregularities  as  had  been  charged,  but  becoming 
convinced  of  the  fact  he  proceeded  to  oust  the  wrong-doers,  and 
worked  diligently  to  place  the  affairs  of  the  Department  on  an  honest 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       135 

and  business-like  basis.  All  this  imposed  onerous  duties  upon  Mr. 
Payne — duties  that  undoubtedly  overtaxed  his  strength.  He  would 
have  resigned  over  a  year  ago,  but  for  the  criticism  that  centered 
upon  him  and  the  probability  that  his  critics  would  have  accused 
him  of  running  under  fire. 

It  is  doubtful  if  the  general  public  has  ever  had  a  correct  estimate 
of  Mr.  Payne  in  relation  to  the  postal  investigation.  When  he  en 
tered  the  Cabinet,  only  a  few  months  after  Mr.  Roosevelt  became 
President,  the  country  regarded  him  solely  as  a  shrewd  politician, 
possibly  of  a  record  that  would  not  bear  the  closest  scrutiny.  There 
was  no  prejudice  against  his  personal  character.  He  had  been  be 
fore  the  country  simply  in  the  role  of  party  manager  and  intimately 
associated  with  the  wheelhorses  of  the  Republican  National  Com 
mittee.  Some  of  President  Roosevelt's  warmest  admirers  confessed 
surprise  that  he  should  bring  a  trained  politician  of  Mr.  Payne's  stripe 
into  his  official  family.  But  Mr.  Payne  rapidly  conquered  whatever 
personal  prejudice  existed  against  him  among  those  with  whom  he 
came  in  contact. 

As  soon  as  the  postal  scandal  acquired  publicity  the  press  in  the 
States  and  public  opinion  were  quick  to  assume  that  Mr.  Payne  was 
resisting  investigation  and  that  he  would  strive  with  all  his  might 
to  keep  the  lid  on.  Certain  of  his  utterances  unfortunately  gave 
color  to  such  a  view.  His  characterization  of  grave  charges  pre 
ferred  by  a  former  official  as  "hot  air"  tenaciously  clung  to  him. 
The  words  were  spoken  during  a  meeting  of  newspaper  men  in  his 
office,  and  iterated  and  reiterated  everywhere  in  the  country.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  Postmaster-General  assumed  a  judicial  attitude 
when  the  charges  of  scandal  were  first  pressed  against  his  subor 
dinates.  He  refused,  properly,  as  most  people  believed,  to  credit 
those  charges  till  specific  proof  had  been  adduced.  As  somewhat 
similar  accusations  had  been  made  under  the  administration  of  his 
predecessor,  and  ignored,  there  was  a  general  impatience  outside  of 
the  Department  at  anything  save  vigorous  prosecution. 

If  Mr.  Payne  was  thoroughly  judicial  in  his  attitude  at  the  be 
ginning  of  the  investigation,  which  has  made  his  term  as  Postmaster- 
General  the  most  notable  of  any  lor  many  years,  he  swerved  quite 
as  strongly  towards  vigorous  prosecution  as  the  disclosures  pro 
ceeded.  The  proof  of  Machen's  operation  in  the  free  delivery  bureau 
shocked  him.  Thereafter  he  did  not  hesitate  to  discharge  the  oldest 
and  hitherto  the  most  trusted  employes  on  evidence  of  grafting. 
However,  the  criticism  of  his  administration  from  influential  quar 
ters  continued.  Much  of  this  criticism  was  undoubtedly  undeserved. 
It  was  frequently  rumored  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  retire 
from  the  Cabinet.  These  rumors  are  known  to  have  had  no  founda- 


136  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

tion,   for   Mr.    Payne   enjoyed  the   confidence   and  good-will   of  the 
President. 

Mr.  Payne  was  sensitive  to  these  attacks,  notwithstanding  the 
belief  that  he  was  a  hardened  politician  who  could  give  and  take 
hard  blows.  This  sensitiveness  was  enhanced  because  it  had  been 
his  ambition  for  many  years  to  become  a  Cabinet  officer.  Being  a 
man  of  considerable  business  training  he  hoped  to  round  out  his 
active  career  with  a  highly  creditable  record  in  extending  and  im 
proving  the  efficiency  of  that  great  business  department. 

Mr.  Payne  did  enjoy  "the  confidence  and  good  will  of 
the  President."  Before  the  investigations  ended  the  fol 
lowing  communication  emanated  from  the  White  House : 

WHITE  HOUSE, 

WASHINGTON,  Feb.  27,  1904. 

MY  DEAR  MR.  POSTMASTER-GENERAL  : 

While  all  the  work  of  the  Post  Office  Department  and  the  De 
partment  of  Justice  in  connection  with  the  postal  frauds  is  not  yet 
over,  there  is  already  to  the  credit  of  the  Departments,  and  there 
fore  primarily  to  your  credit,  such  an  amount  of  substantive  achieve 
ment,  that  I  take  this  opportunity  to  congratulate  you  personally 
upon  it.  It  is  impossible  to  expect  that  corruption  will  not  occa 
sionally  occur  in  any  government ;  the  vital  point  is  the  energy,  the 
fearlessness,  and  the  efficiency  with  which  such  corruption  is  cut 
out  and  the  corrupticnists  punished.  The  success  of  the  prosecu 
tions  in  this  case  as  compared  with  previous  experiences  in  prose 
cuting  government  officials  who  have  been  guilty  of  malfeasance  or 
misfeasance  is  as  noteworthy  as  it  is  gratifying,  and  must  be  a  source 
of  encouragement  to  all  men  who  believe  in  decency  and  honesty  in 
public  life.  What  has  been  accomplished  by  you,  by  those  who  have 
worked  under  you  in  your  Department,  and  by  the  Department  of 
Justice,  redounds  to  the  credit  of  our  whole  people  and  is  a  signal 
triumph  for  the  cause  of  popular  government.  If  corruption  goes 
unpunished  in  popular  government,  then  government  by  the  people 
will  ultimately  fail ;  and  they  are  the  best  friends  of  the  people  who 
make  it  evident  that  whoever  in  public  office,  or  in  connection  with 
public  office,  sins  against  the  fundamental  laws  of  civic  and  social 
well-doing,  will  be  punished  with  unsparing  vigor. 

Sincerely  yours, 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT. 
HON.  H.  C  PAYNE, 

Postmaster-General. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       137 

Senator  Spooner  in  his  speech  of  April  9,  1904,  to 
which  reference  was  made  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter, 
comments  thus  upon  the  investigation : 

Neither  carping  nor  innuendo,  from  whatever  source  or  wherever 
uttered,  can  blind  the  people  to  the  searching  and  vigorous  character 
of  that  investigation,  and  the  unwavering  determination  of  the 
President,  the  Postmaster-General,  and  the  other  officials  charged 
with  the  duty,  that  it  should  be  exhaustive,  and  should  take  no  note 
of  party  affiliations,  political  or  personal  friendship.  The  people 
know  that  as  it  went  on  it  involved  not  only  officials  in  the  Depart 
ments,  but  private  citizens  of  different  degrees  of  prominence,  and 
that  no  consideration  of  friendship  or  influence  was  allowed  to  mod 
ify  its  thoroughness  and  energy,  exposure,  and  prosecution. 

Mr.  William  H.  Moody,  who  was  successively  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  and  Attorney-General  while  Mr.  Payne 
was  in  the  Cabinet,  while  mentioning  only  generally  the 
troubles  in  the  latter' s  department,  writes  thus  of  his 
associate : 

When  I  entered  the  Cabinet  of  President  Roosevelt  on  May  I, 
1902,  Mr.  Payne  was  Postmaster-General,  and  continued  in  that 
office  until  the  day  of  his  death.  My  acquaintance  with  him  began 
with  our  common  service  and  ripened  into  sincere  friendship.  It 
was  impossible  for  any  one  who  came  in  contact  with  him  to  resist 
the  attraction  of  his  gentle  and  lovable  nature.  Though  he  was  an 
earnest  partisan,  he  had  nothing  but  kind  words  and  kind  feelings 
for  those  who  differed  from  him  in  their  political  beliefs.  He  was 
a  loyal  friend  and  trusted  implicitly  the  loyalty  of  those  who  pro 
fessed  to  be  his  friends.  Nothing  was  more  pathetic  than  his  sor 
row  when  he  found  that  in  some  cases  that  trust  had  been  misplaced. 
It  was  hard  for  him  to  believe  that  the  confidence  which  he  so 
freely  bestowed  had  been  abused.  Yet  when  that  knowledge  was 
forced  upon  him,  he  was  unrelenting  in  his  pursuit  of  the  wrong 
doers.  He  was  conscientious  to  the  last  degree  in  the  performance 
of  his  official  duties  and  spared  no  effort  to  perform  them  faithfully 
— often  at  the  expense  of  his  health.  At  one  time  he  made  a  journey 
with  me  through  the  West  Indies  and  wherever  we  found  any  work 
which  was  being  conducted  under  the  direction  of  his  Department, 
he  examined  it  assiduously,  and  did  all  within  his  power  to  see  that 
the  work  was  properly  performed.  In  his  death  the  public  service 
suffered  a  severe  loss,  and  his  friends  an  irretrievable  calamity.  I 
shall  always  treasure  the  memory  of  my  friendship  with  him,  and 
never  cease  to  grieve  for  his  untimely  death. 


138  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Mr.  Charles  H.  Robb,  then  Assistant  Attorney-Gen 
eral  of  the  United  States,  and  now  Associate  Justice  of  the 
Court  of  Appeals,  District  of  Columbia,  gives  his  im 
pressions  of  his  former  chief  in  the  following  terms. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  postal  investigation  early 
in  1903,  the  Assistant  Attorney-General  for  the  Post  Office  Depart 
ment  was  summarily  removed  by  General  Payne,  and  I  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  office  upon  the  understanding  that  the  appointment 
should  be  temporary.  It  was  then  that  I  first  met  Mr.  Payne. 

His  great  sincerity,  ready  sympathy,  uniform  kindness,  integ 
rity  and  fidelity  to  duty,  soon  completely  won  my  heart  and  impelled 
me  to  abandon  my  original  purpose  of  temporarily  filling  the  office, 
and  to  decide  to  remain  therein  so  long  as  I  could  be  of  any  service 
to  him. 

Our  relations  were  necessarily  of  an  intimate  and  confidential 
nature,  and  my  opportunities  for  judging  the  man  were  exceptional. 
He  was  a  warm  and  steadfast  friend  whom  it  deeply  hurt  to  discover 
that  those  upon  whom  he  had  relied  had  been  unfaithful.  This  trait 
of  character,  added  to  his  great  love  of  justice  and  fair  play,  created 
the  impression  in  the  minds  of  some  that  he  was  not  a  sincere  in 
vestigator  of  his  Department.  In  this  they  did  Mr.  Payne  great  in 
justice.  To  my  certain  knowledge  he  shielded  no  one,  and  hesitated 
not  an  instant  to  remove  from  the  service  and  do  all  in  his  power  to 
prosecute,  every  person  whose  guilt  was  demonstrated  by  evi 
dence.  He  would  act  in  such  cases  summarily  and  fearlessly,  im 
pelled  by  a  high  sense  of  duty.  It  was  always  a  great  shock  to  him, 
however,  possessed  as  he  was  of  such  a  highly  sensitive  and  sym 
pathetic  temperament,  to  be  compelled  in  the  performance  of  his 
stern  duty,  to  measure  out  justice  to  those  with  whom  he  had  been 
associated,  and  as  to  whose  integrity  he  had  theretofore  entertained 
no  doubt.  The  cares  of  his  office  during  such  a  trying  period  bore 
heavily  upon  him,  and  he  ultimately  became  a  martyr  to  duty. 

He  was  a  man  of  marked  business  ability,  accustomed  to,  and 
capable  of,  directing  large  enterprises.  As  an  official  he  quickly 
grasped  the  details  of  every  branch  of  his  Department,  and  was  its 
responsible  head.  He  was  in  no  way  accountable  for  the  conditions 
out  of  which  grew  the  practices  which  resulted  in  the  investigation, 
but  he  did  all  in  his  power  to  better  those  conditions  and  to  punish 
the  persons  responsible  therefor. 

It  has  never  been  my  lot  to  know  a  more  kindly  or  more  lovable 
character.  His  heart  was  full  of  love  for  his  fellow-man  and  malice 
had  no  place  therein. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT       139 

Senator  Nathan  B.  Scott,  of  West  Virginia,  makes 
these  statements  as  to  the  relation  of  Mr.  Payne  with  the 
Post  Office  Department : 

His  impress  on  the  political  affairs  of  Wisconsin  was  great  and 
always  for  better  and  cleaner  politics.  He  was  a  man  of  great  ability 
to  plan  and  to  map  out  on  certain  lines  work  that  should  be  done  in 
order  to  secure  success,  and  through  all  the  different  campaigns  up 
to  the  last  one  he  was  the  one  man,  after  the  chairman,  who  was 
relied  upon  most  for  advice  and  counsel. 

His  induction  into  the  Post  Office  Department  at  the  time  he 
was  made  Postmaster-General  was  unfortunate.  He  was  held  re 
sponsible  in  the  minds  of  the  masses  for  acts  of  commission  and 
omission  that  he  had  no  control  over  and  which  were  matters  of 
record  before  he  took  office.  Anyone  knowing  him  as  I  did  would 
know  he  would  not  be  a  party  to  or  countenance  anything  that  was 
not  absolutely  straightforward  and  honorable.  That  he  had  those 
associated  with  him  in  the  Post  Office  Department  who  should  have 
been  his  loyal  support  and  counselors  who  were  not  sincere  and  who 
did  much  to  bring  about  conditions  that  they  hoped  would  reflect 
upon  him,  I  know  he  felt,  and  his  friends  knew  and  resented.  I 
have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  that  I  believe  the  treachery  of  those  who 
should  have  upheld  him  in  every  way  hastened  his  death,  because  to 
a  sensitive  nature  like  his,  treachery  of  that  kind  sank  deep.  Well 
do  I  remember  on  one  occasion  when  conversing  with  him  in  regard 
to  those  who  were  giving  out  information  and  trying  in  every  way 
they  could  to  besmirch  his  good  name,  that  he  referred  to  the  fact  to 
me  with  tears  coursing  down  his  cheeks  and  said,  "Never  mind, 
Scottie,  the  truth  will  prevail  and  my  good  name  will  be  vindicated 
long  after  those  who  are  trying  to  traduce  me  now  have  been  for 
gotten." 

Such  vindication  may  this  biography  assist  to  accom 
plish  ! 

Mr.  Bristow,*  by  reason  of  reporting  frequently  to  his 
chief  the  progress  of  his  work,  was  likewise  brought  into 
intimate  relations  with  him  and  saw  him  on  official  busi- 


*A  sketch  of  his  life  is  in  Review  of  Reviews,  January,  1904, 
Volume  XXIX,  page  45.  He  is  now  the  editor  of  the  Salina,  Kansas, 
Journal. 


140  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

ness  daily.    He  has  recorded  his  estimate  of  Mr.  Payne  in 
a  communication  from  which  these  extracts  are  made : 

In  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties  Mr.  Payne  was  cautious  in 
arriving  at  conclusions  upon  the  questions  submitted  to  him,  nor 
was  he  ever  hasty  in  forming  his  opinions  as  to  the  character  and 
reliability  of  men.  He  always  waited  and  apparently  studied  a  new 
acquaintance  well  before  he  was  willing  to  express  an  opinion  about 
him. 

Mr.  Payne  had  a  very  interesting  personality.  His  mind  was 
clear  and  analytical.  He  could  see  through  the  sophistry  of  an  argu 
ment  with  remarkable  clearness,  and  arrived  at  just  and  proper 
conclusions  in  regard  to  most  intricate  matters  with  unusual  pre 
cision.  I  have  never  been  associated  with  a  man  in  any  capacity  in 
life  who  had  a  keener  and  more  analytical  mind  that  Mr.  Payne, 
but  it  was  not  always  easy  for  him  to  act  in  accordance  with  his 
judgment.  He  had  a  very  sensitive  nature  and  a  kindly  and  affec 
tionate  disposition. 

While  slow  to  establish  a  friendship,  he  was  even  slower  to 
break  it  when  once  established.  When  he  gave  a  man  his  confidence 
he  gave  it  unreservedly,  and  when  he  withdrew  that  confidence  he 
did  it  completely.  I  have  thought  that  at  times  he  was  too  severe 
in  his  judgment  of  men  in  whom  he  had  lost  confidence.  He  had  a 
most  admirable  trait  of  character  in  being  thoroughly  loyal  to  a  sub 
ordinate  who  was  pursuing  the  line  of  duty.  During  the  most  try 
ing  period  of  the  postal  investigation  when  he  was  so  mercilessly 
criticised  for  endeavoring  to  "smother  the  truth"  he  was  in  fact  giv 
ing  me  unqualified  support.  During  the  early  period  of  the  investi 
gation  I  was  very  careful  not  to  submit  anything  to  him  for  his  con 
sideration  until  I  had  thoroughly  examined  every  phase  of  it  and 
had  secured  the  most  reliable  evidence  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of 
the  matter  involved.  I  pursued  this  policy  for  two  reasons.  First, 
because  his  health  was  poor  and  I  did  not  want  to  burden  him  with 
unnecessary  details ;  and  second,  because  evidence  as  to  corruption 
in  the  Department  was  so  disagreeable  to  him  that  I  did  not  want 
to  disturb  his  mind  with  what  might  be  simply  suspicious.  I,  there 
fore,  only  submitted  to  him  facts  when  they  were  properly  authenti 
cated.  I  will  never  forget  the  day  that  I  unfolded  to  him  the  case 
against  Machen  in  regard  to  the  Groff  fasteners.  He  was  astonished 
at  the  boldness  and  ingenuity  of  the  crime,  and  stated,  with  some 
excitement,  that  if  those  facts  were  properly  sustained  Machen  should 
be  arrested  before  night.  I  told  him  that  there  was  no  doubt  as  to 
the  truth  of  the  charge,  that  it  was  thoroughly  sustained  by  the  evi 
dence,  and  if  it  met  with  his  approval  I  would  request  the  district 
attorney  to  have  warrants  prepared  for  Machen's  arrest  immediately. 


INVESTIGATION  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT      141 


He  directed  that  this  be  done,  and  within  an  hour  and  a  half  from 
that  time  Machen  was  in  the  custody  of  the  United  States  Marshal. 

I  had  heard  a  great  deal  of  Mr.  Payne  as  a  politician  before  I 
made  his  personal  acquaintance.  He  was  said  to  be  a  very  sharp, 
shrewd  party  manager.  I  had  no  opportunity  to  study  this  phase  of 
his  character  for  he  never  injected  party  politics  into  his  adminis 
tration  of  the  Post  Office  Department.  There  was  nothing  in  his 
official  conduct  that  savored  of  machine  party  politics.  He  was 
perfectly  willing,  however,  to  be  styled  a  politician.  The  term  to 
him  was  not  offensive.  He  frequently  said  to  me,  "They  call  me  a 
machine  politician,  but  I  draw  the  line  on  a  good  many  things  that 
these  reformers  do." 

Mr.  Payne's  kindliness  of  heart  and  his  absolute  loyalty  to  the 
subordinates  whom  he  trusted  made  him  a  delightful  character  to  be 
associated  with.  He  was  a  man  of  great  industry,  and  frequently 
worked  far  beyond  his  physical  strength  in  his  efforts  to  keep  up 
with  the  work  of  the  Department. 

Mr.  Payne,  by  temperament,  would  have  been  wholly  unfit  to 
have  had  immediate  personal  charge  of  the  postal  investigation,  but 
the  officers  who  did  the  detail  work  of  that  investigation  owe  him  a 
debt  of  gratitude  which  they  cannot  express  for  the  unfaltering 
support  which  he  gave  them  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  for 
this  support  he  deserves  the  praise  of  the  country  which  was  un 
fortunately  withheld  from  him  during  his  lifetime.  My  personal 
attachment  to  him  as  the  years  went  by  became  very  strong,  and  I 
have  never  been  associated  with  any  man  whose  death  gave  me 
greater  pain  and  whose  memory  I  cherish  with  greater  affection. 


142  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XVI 


Cfmrges  Concerning  fi@em&er0" 

Upon  a  man  so  sensitive  in  disposition  as  was  Mr. 
Payne,  and  far  from  robust  in  health,  the  investigation 
as  it  developed,  writh  its  imposition  of  disagreeable  duties, 
could  not  fail  to  produce  extreme  bodily  and  mental  de 
pression.  These  distressing  feelings  were  sensibly  ag 
gravated  by  a  train  of  events  which  followed  the  filing  of 
the  Bristow  report  on  October  24,  1903.  Remarks  that 
this  report  might  or  did  contain  matters  of  serious  import 
affecting  members  of  Congress  spread  about.  On  Decem 
ber  8,  1903,  the  House  authorized  its  Committee  on  the 
Post  Office  and  Post  Roads  to  request  from  the  Post 
master-General  "all  the  papers  connected  with  the  recent 
investigation  of  his  department."  On  December  15,  1903, 
the  Postmaster-General,  by  direction  of  the  President, 
transmitted  to  the  said  Committee  the  said  papers,  includ 
ing  therewith  the  papers  relating  to  the  investigation  of 
the  so-called  Tulloch  charges,  but  omitting  certain  con 
fidential  exhibits  which,  pending  prosecution  of  indicted 
officials,  it  was  inexpedient  to  make  public.  On  February 
5,  1904,  the  Senate,  by  resolution,  requested  the  same 
papers,  and  there  was  like  transmittal  to  that  body  on 
the  ensuing  day. 

Certain  statements  in  the  Bristow  report,  although 
impersonal  so  far  as  members  of  Congress  were  con- 


"THE  CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"          143 

cerned,  were  regarded  by  some  representatives  as  reflec 
tions  upon  the  integrity  of  the  membership  of  the  House 
and  upon  individual  members  whose  names  had  not 
been  mentioned.  These  statements  grouped  themselves 
mainly  about  two  alleged  charges :  firstly,  that  in  defiance 
of  statutory  inhibition,  George  W.  Beavers,  had,  in  his 
official  capacity,  made  contracts  of  lease,  directly  or  in 
directly,  with  members  of  Congress,  who  were  owners  of 
eligible  buildings,  for  the  rental  (in  some  cases  for  the 
re-rental  at  higher  rates)  of  such  buildings,  for  postal 
purposes;  secondly,  that,  upon  the  request  of  congress 
men,  increased  allowances  for  clerk  hire  (technically 
known  as  allowances  for  separating  purposes)  in  certain 
third  and  fourth  class  post  offices  within  the  constituencies 
of  such  congressmen,  had  been  granted  by  said  Beavers, 
which  said  allowances,  later,  upon  investigation,  had  been 
either  discontinued  or  reduced. 

Thereupon  Mr.  James  Hay,  a  member  of  the  House 
from  Virginia,  introduced  a  resolution  directing  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  special  committee  of  representatives  to  in 
vestigate  the  so-called  charges  contained  in  the  Bristow 
report.  This  resolution,  with  its  preambles,  was  referred 
for  consideration  to  the  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and 
Post-roads. 

Meanwhile,  on  January  n,  1904,  while  this  last  named 
committee  was  examining  certain  officials  of  the  Post 
Office  Department,  preliminary  to  the  preparation  and 
presentation  of  the  customary  annual  budget  of  appropria 
tions,  it  developed  from  statements  by  Mr.  Charles  M. 
Waters,  General  Superintendent,  Division  of  Salary  and 
Allowance,  that  there  existed  in  the  Department  a  list  of 
some  nine  hundred  post  offices  where  allowances  had  been 


144  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

made,  as  above  stated,  for  separating  purposes,  which  al 
lowances  had  later  been  reduced  or  discontinued. 

Thereupon  Mr.  Jesse  Overstreet,  of  Indiana,  chair 
man  of  the  said  committee,  informed  the  Postmaster- 
General  by  telephone  of  the  existence  of  said  list,  stated 
that  its  use  would  be  of  service  to  the  committee,  and 
asked  if  any  reason  existed  why  the  committee  should 
not  be  furnished  with  it.  Mr.  Payne,  having  in  mind  the 
pendency  before  the  committee  of  an  amendment  to  the 
statutes  legalizing  such  allowances  in  the  discretion  of  the 
Postmaster-General,  and  believing  that  the  list  might 
therefore  be  useful  to  the  committee,  informed  the  chair 
man  that  he  saw  no  reason  why  the  list  should  not  be 
copied  for  the  committee's  use,  but  he  suggested  a  formal 
request.  Accordingly,  a  letter  (which  hereinafter  will  be 
designated  as  Letter  A)  was  sent  to  the  Postmaster-Gen 
eral,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

COMMITTEE  ON  THE  POST  OFFICE  AND  POST  ROADS, 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  U.  S. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  22,  1904. 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Payne, 

Postmaster-General, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
SIR: 

I  have  the  honor  to  request  that  there  be  furnished  direct  to  this 
Committee,  by  the  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  all  in 
formation  which  can  be  communicated  by  such  official  with  reference 
to  allowances  for  clerk  hire  in  offices  where  those  allowances  have 
been  discontinued,  together  with  all  information  relating  to  leases 
which  have  been  made  to  Members  of  Congress  and  whether  dis 
continued  and  renewed  at  a  higher  rate. 

I  would  thank  you  to  have  this  information  in  my  hands  by  10 
o'clock  Monday  morning,  January  25th. 

Very  respectfully, 

JESSE  OVERSTREET, 

Chairman. 


"THE  CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         145 

This  letter  is  stamped,  "P.  O.  Department,  Received 
Jan.  23,  1904,  Office  of  the  Postmaster-General." 

Upon  this  same  January  23,  which  was  Saturday,  the 
same  committee,  apparently  desiring  to  amplify  its  re 
quest  and  to  obtain  the  fullest  information,  wrote  the  fol 
lowing  (Letter  B)  : 

COMMITTEE  ON  THE  POST  OFFICE  AND  POST  ROADS, 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  U.  S. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  23,  1904. 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Payne, 

Postmaster-General, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
SIR: 

During  the  hearing  before  this  committee  recently,  the  statement 
was  made  by  Mr.  Waters  that  from  about  900  offices  allowances  for 
separating  purposes  had  been  taken  away  because  the  offices  were 
not  entitled  to  them.  From  a  conversation  had  with  Mr.  Waters 
over  the  telephone  it  was  understood  that  a  statement  had  been  made 
to  the  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General  in  regard  to  these  dis 
allowances,  and  that  a  copy  of  this  statement  could  probably  be 
furnished  without  much  difficulty. 

I  would  be  pleased  to  have  you  furnish  me,  for  use  of  the  com 
mittee,  a  copy  of  the  statement  referred  to,  at  the  earliest  oppor 
tunity.  The  committee  desires  to  know  what  offices  have  been 
affected  by  these  disallowances,  what  the  allowance  was  before  any 
reduction  or  discontinuance  was  made,  and  what  it  is  now ;  and  also 
the  compensation  allowed  postmasters  at  each  of  the  offices  in  ques 
tion.  It  may  be  that  all  of  this  information  is  not  easily  obtainable 
without  considerable  delay,  and  if  so,  please  advise  me  immediately. 
But  in  any  event,  the  committee  desires  to  have  such  information 
as  is  now  accessible  as  soon  as  possible. 

Very  respectfully, 

JESSE  OVERSTREET, 

Chairman. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  latter  letter,  upon  Monday, 
January  25,  the  Postmaster-General  sent  for  the  list, 
which  would  furnish  the  information  desired.  Upon  ex 
amining  it — for  this  was  the  first  time  Mr.  Payne  had 
seen  the  list — he  observed  therein,  opposite  the  names  of 


146  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

post  offices  in  a  column  headed  "Recommended  by,  and 
Remarks,"  the  names  of  senators,  representatives  and 
other  prominent  men.  After  conference  with  the  First 
Assistant  Postmaster-General,  Mr.  Payne  directed  the 
copying  of  the  list,  omitting  such  names,  their  trans 
mission  not  being,  in  his  opinion,  necessary  for  the  com 
mittee's  purposes.  Pending  the  prompt  preparation  of  the 
copy,  Mr.  Payne  dispatched  the  following  message 
(Letter  C)  : 

POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  25,  1904. 
Hon.  Jesse  Overstreet, 

Chairman  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post  Roads, 

House  of  Representatives. 

Expect  to  be  able  to  send  you  this  afternoon  statement  of  allow 
ances  for  separating  purposes  which  have  been  taken  away  from 
about  900  offices. 

H.  C.  PAYNE, 

Postmaster-General. 

Later  on  the  same  Monday,  the  list,  omitting  the  said 
names,  was  transmitted  to  the  committee,  the  following 
letter  (Letter  D)  accompanying  it: 

OFFICE  OF  THE  POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  25,  1904. 
Hon.  Jesse  Overstreet, 

Chairman  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post  Roads, 
SIR: 

Replying  to  your  communication  of  the  23d  instant,  I  beg  to 
enclose  herewith  statement  showing  the  reduction  in  allowances  for 
clerk  hire  in  post  offices  of  the  third  and  fourth  classes  since  April  I, 
1903.  This  shows  the  former  allowances  amounted  to  $162,966.  The 
present  allowances  amount  to  $63,600. 

Respectfully  yours, 

H.  C.  PAYNE, 

Postmaster-General. 

P.  S. — If  it  is  desired  we  will  ascertain  and  advise  you  the  salary 
or  compensation  of  the  postmasters  at  the  offices  in  question. 

H.  C.  P. 


CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         147 


The  receipt  of  this  letter,  with  the  enclosed  list,  called 
therein  a  "Statement",  was  never  formally  acknowledged. 

Upon  the  same  day  Mr.  Bristow  sent  to  the  committee 
two  letters  (Letters  E7  F)  particularizing  three  instances 
where  post  offices  were  or  had  been  occupying  premises 
leased  from  members  of  the  House,  specifying  the  Postal 
Rules  and  Regulations  relating  to  allowances  for  clerk 
hire,  and  adding  that  he  could  furnish  "an  incomplete  list 
of  the  cases  relating  to  both  clerk  hire  and  leases  in  a  few 
days,  but  it  will  take  some  time  to  compile  a  complete 
list." 

Thereupon  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Post  Office  and  Post-roads  wrote  to  the  Postmaster-Gen 
eral  as  follows  (Letter  G)  : 

COMMITTEE  ON  THE  POST  OFFICE  AND  POST  ROADS, 
HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  U.  S. 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  January  25,  1904. 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Payne, 

Postmaster-General, 

Washington,  D.  C. 
SIR: 

I  am  in  receipt  of  a  letter  of  this  date  from  Hon.  J.  L.  Bristow, 
Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster-General,  replying  to  my  request  made 
to  you  in  my  letter  of  January  22d,  in  which  he  informs  me  that  he 
has  been  unable  to  fully  comply  with  my  request,  but  can,  if  granted 
more  time,  send  to  the  committee  a  complete  list  of  cases  relating  to 
both  clerk  hire  and  leases  referred  to. 

In  view  of  the  references  of  the  Fourth  Assistant  Postmaster- 
General  in  his  report  to  you  under  date  of  October  24th,  1903,  to 
the  action  of  Members  of  Congress  in  recommending  increase  of 
clerk  hire,  and  cancellation  of  leases  and  their  renewal  at  a  higher 
rate,  I  request  that  this  Committee  be  furnished,  at  the  earliest  prac 
ticable  date,  a  complete  list  of  all  cases  referred  to  in  said  report 
relating  to  allowances  for  clerk  hire  in  offices  where  those  allowances 
have  subsequently  been  discontinued,  and  also  of  all  cases  where 
leases  of  post  office  premises  have  been  cancelled  and  renewed  at  a 
higher  rate,  together  with  a  statement  in  detail  giving  a  full  explana 
tion  of  the  facts  connected  with  each  case. 

Very  respectfully, 

JESSE  OVERSTREET, 

Chairman. 


148  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

In  compliance  with  the  request  thus  precisely  made 
and  in  compliance  with  an  intimation,  either  by  telephone 
or  at  a  personal  interview,  by  the  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  to  Mr.  Payne,  that  the  list,  with  names  omitted, 
sent  as  an  enclosure  with  Letter  D,  was  not  satisfactory, 
Mr.  Payne  directed  that  the  said  list  be  recopied  and 
amended  so  as  to  include  the  names  found  in  the  column 
"Recommended  by,  and  Remarks." 

But  as  Mr.  Payne  did  not  esteem  it  just  or  right  thus 
to  amend  the  list  without  accompanying  it  with  explana 
tory  matter  showing  the  exact  relation  of  each  congress 
man  with  the  post  office  with  which  his  name  was  asso 
ciated  in  the  matter  of  either  clerk  hire,  allowances  or 
leases,  he  had  an  interview  with  the  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  at  which  it  was  agreed  that  the  circumstances  sur 
rounding  each  case  as  shown  by  the  Department  files 
should  be  briefly  set  forth  in  connection  with  the  list.  This 
additional  and  amendatory  matter  was  a  work  of  great 
magnitude,  and  by  the  close  of  Saturday,  January  30,  was 
not  half  completed.  On  Sunday,  January  31,  another  in 
terview  occurred  between  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
and  Mr.  Payne,  at  the  latter's  residence,  at  which  Mr. 
Payne  suggested  reconsideration  of  the  determination  to 
include  in  the  list  the  names  of  the  congressmen.  At  the 
same  time  Mr.  Payne  exhibited  to  Mr.  Overstreet  for  his 
approval  the  work  already  completed  with  these  names 
included.  Mr.  Overstreet  expressed  himself  as  entirely 
satisfied  with  the  work  in  form  and  substance  as  it  was 
then  exhibited  to  him. 

Upon  the  next  day,  February  I,  Mr.  Payne  reporting 
progress  to  the  chairman,  wrote  him  as  follows  (Letter 
H): 


"THE  CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         149 

OFFICE  OF  THE  POSTMASTER-GENERAL, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  February  I,  1904. 
Hon.  Jesse  Overstreet, 

Chairman  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post  Roads, 

House  of  Representatives. 
SIR: 

Referring  to  your  communication  of  the  23d  and  25th  ultimo, 
respectively,  requesting  information  concerning  allowances  for  clerk 
hire  at  post  offices  of  the  third  and  fourth  classes,  I  beg  to  advise 
you  that  I  have  the  proper  officers  of  the  Department  preparing  the 
data  desired.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  I  will  be  able  to 
place  the  information  in  your  hands  before  the  close  of  the  present 
week. 

Very  respectfully, 

H.  C.  PAYNE, 

Postmaster-General. 

By  February  4th  the  list,  with  the  names  of  congress 
men  included  and  with  the  explanatory  matter  as  above 
described,  was  completed.  It  will  herein,  for  brevity,  be 
designated  the  Amended  List.  It  was  transmitted  on 
February  5th  to  the  committee  with  a  letter  (Letter  I), 
not  necessary  to  be  copied,  but  stating  that  the  matter 
furnished  is  as  requested  by  Mr.  Overstreet's  "communi 
cations  of  January  23  and  25"  (Letters  B  and  G).  Upon 
February  16  and  March  2,  certain  additional  information 
regarding  leases  and  allowances  for  rent,  fuel  and  light 
was  also  transmitted. 

This  Amended  List,  stated  by  the  clerk  of  the  Commit 
tee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post-roads,  to  be  a  "confidential 
report,"  and  characterized  by  the  New  York  Tribune  of 
February  29,  1904,  as  "a  white  elephant,"  was  thereupon 
prepared  for  the  Public  Printer  under  the  direction  of  the 
committee.  Its  caption,  as  thus  prepared,  was: 

RESOLUTION  RELATIVE  TO  INVESTIGATION  OF 
CHARGES  MADE  IN  THE  REPORT  OF  THE  FOURTH  AS 
SISTANT  POSTMASTER-GENERAL  ON  THE  INVESTIGATION 


150  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

OF  THE  POST  OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  CONCERNING  MEM 
BERS  OF  CONGRESS. 

This  caption  was  followed  by  a  recital  of  the  Hay 
resolution  with  its  preambles,  by  a  short  argument  tend 
ing  to  show  that  the  material  contained  in  the  Amended 
List  rendered  unnecessary  the  investigation  contemplated 
by  the  Hay  resolution,  and  by  a  recommendation  that  the 
Hay  resolution  therefore  lie  on  the  table.  After  this  pre 
face,  came  introductory  matter,  consisting  of  the  letters 
hereinbefore  described  as  Letters  A,  G,  E,  F,  H  and  I. 
Then  followed  the  Amended  List. 

As  to  this  introductory  matter,  comprising  these  six 
letters,  some  observations  must  be  made : 

1.  Letter  A,  from  the  committee  to  the  Postmaster- 
General,  which  is  plainly  dated  in  the  original  January  22, 
1904,  appears  incorrectly    under    the    date   January  23, 
1904.     This  is  the  innocent  first  letter  which  requested 
but  little  information. 

2.  Letter  B,  from  the  committee  to  the  Postmaster- 
General,  dated  January  23,  1904,  is  entirely  omitted  and 
is  not  even  alluded  to.     This  was  an  extremely  unfortu 
nate  omission  so  far  as  affecting  Mr.  Payne,  for  Letter  B 
requested  the  fullest  and  widest  information,  and  its  ex 
clusion  and  the  printing  of  the  innocent  Letter  A  under 
the  date  of  January  23,  unwarrantably  placed  Mr.  Payne 
in  the  attitude  of  volunteering  unpalatable  information, 
of  impertinently  tendering  what  he  had  never  been  re 
quested  to  send. 

3.  Letter  D,  from  Mr.  Payne  to  the  committee,  trans 
mitting  the  original   List,  with   names   of   congressmen 
eliminated,  was  also  omitted. 


CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         151 


4.  In  the  third  line  of  Letter  G,  from  the  committee 
to  Mr.  Payne,  the  date  January  23  is  given  instead  of 
January  22,  as  the  date  of  Letter  A  —  thus  carrying  on 
the  change  noted  at  observation  i  and  accentuating  the 
omission  of  Letter  B. 

5.  Letters  H  and  I,  from  Mr.  Payne  to  the  commit 
tee,  which  disclose  that  the  material  forwarded  was  pre 
pared  and  forwarded  in  accordance  with  the  committee's 
request  in  its  letters  of  "January  23  and  25,"  are  made, 
by  the  incorrect  dating  of  Letter  A  and  the  omission  of 
Letter  B,  to  refer  to  Letters  A  and  G,  instead  of  B  and  G, 
—  still  perpetuating  the  mild  Letter  A,  still  placing  Mr. 
Payne  in  a  false  attitude. 

Let  us  return  from  these  observations  to  the  document 
which  occasioned  them.  With  all  its  alterations  and 
omissions  it  was  delivered  to  the  Public  Printer 
at  about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Saturday,  March 
5,  —  a  bulky  document  which,  when  printed,  occupied  two 
hundred  and  eighteen  octavo  pages.  Nevertheless,  it  was 
ready  for  presentation  to  the  House  on  Monday,  March 
7,  and  a  copy  of  the  pamphlet  lay  upon  each  member's 
desk.  But  to  the  chagrin  and  mortification  of  all,  the 
head-line,  Charges  Concerning  Members  of  Congress^  ran 
along  all  the  two  hundred  and  eighteen  pages  ! 

To  one  not  interested  the  situation  must  have  been 
comical  enough,  but  in  the  House  there  was  great  indigna 
tion,  much  of  which  vented  itself  upon  Mr.  Payne.  To 
be  sure,  he  was  not  responsible  for  the  odious  head-line  — 
that  had  originated  in  the  Government  Printing  Office, 
and  had  justification  for  its  existence  in  the  committee's 
own  caption.  But  the  document  appearing  under  these  ob 
noxious  head-lines  emanated  from  Mr.  Payne's  depart- 


152  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

ment,  and  the  omission  of  letters  and  alterations  of  dates 
placed  upon  him  and  it  the  burden  of  having-  volunteered 
information  which,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  had  actually  been 
dragged  out  of  Mr.  Payne.  It  matters  not  whether  or 
no  the  committee  blundered  in  demanding-  the  Amended 
List;  it  matters  not  whether  its  errors  and  omissions  are 
ascribable  to  the  culpable  carelessness  of  the  committee's 
clerk,  or  to  his  malice  against  Mr.  Bristow,  growing  out 
of  the  unfavorable  light  in  which  a  portion  of  the  latter' s 
report  exhibited  him ;  it  matters  not  whether  the  explana 
tory  matter  appended  to  the  Amended  List  disclosed  offi 
cial  turpitude  upon  the  part  of  congressmen  or  absolute  im- 
maculateness — the  effect  of  all  the  distressing  business 
was  the  pouring  out  of  vials  of  undeserved  vituperation 
upon  an  innocent  man's  head. 

The  matter  came  to  a  climax  in  the  House  on  March 
n,  1904.  A  resolution  was  pending  for  the  appointment 
of  a  special  committee  of  seven  members,  to  be  known  as 
Select  Committee  on  Relations  of  Members  with  the  Post 
Office  Department,  and  to  it  was  to  be  referred  the  Hay 
resolution,  the  Amended  List  and  the  opprobrious  head 
lines.  The  debate  waxed  \varm  and  much  injured  inno 
cence  was  aired.  With  some  distinguished  exceptions 
Democrats  and  Republicans,  congressmen  from  the  South 
and  congressmen  from  the  North,  even  from  Wisconsin, 
had  alike  chorused  in  vehement  denunciation  of  Mr. 
Payne  and  Mr.  Bristow. 

All  this  time  the  chief  object  of  this  bitter  clamor  was 
seriously  ill,  and  was  confined  to  his  bed  for  almost  a 
month,  beginning  March  8.  On  the  above  mentioned 
March  n.  while  the  House  was  in  the  midst  of  the  excit- 


"THE  CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         153 

ing  debate  just  referred  to,  Mr.  Payne's  Secretary,  Mr. 
Whitney,  had  discovered  the  errors  in  the  report  of  the 
Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post-roads,  particularly 
the  omission  of  the  comprehensive  Letter  B.  Hastening' 
to  Mr.  Payne's  bedside  he  explained  the  situation  and 
was  directed  to  lay  the  matter  before  Representative 
Henry  A.  Cooper  and  Representative  Joseph  W. 
Babcock,  both  of  Wisconsin.  Finding  the  former  in  the 
room  of  his  committee  (Insular  Affairs)  Mr.  Whitney 
exhibited  to  him  a  copy  of  the  omitted  Letter  B.  Realiz 
ing  its  bearing  Mr.  Cooper  hurried  to  the  floor  of  the 
House  that  he  might  seek  recognition  and  read  the  letter. 
Mr.  Whitney  then  found  Mr.  Babcock,  made  explanation 
of  the  affair  and  handed  him  another  copy  of  the  letter. 
Mr.  Babcock  quickly  comprehending  the  situation,  broke 
away  from  Mr.  Whitney,  exclaiming  that  he  must  see 
Mr.  Overstreet  and  remind  him  of  the  letter.  Before, 
however,  Mr.  Cooper  could  catch  the  Speaker's  eye,  Mr. 
Overstreet  arose  in  his  place  and  thus  addressed  the 
House : 

Before  yielding  to  the  next  gentleman  I  wish  to  state  that  in  the 
publication  of  the  report  brought  in  by  the  Committee  on  the  Post 
Office  and  Post  Roads,  there  was  inadvertently  omitted  a  letter  which 
I  had  addressed  to  the  Postmaster-General,  under  date  of  January 
23,  which  I  ask  the  Clerk  to  read.  It  relates  to  the  same  subject- 
matter  and  should  accompany  the  report. 

The  Clerk  then  read  Letter  B. 

But  even  this  reading  did  not  entirely  check  the  tirade 
of  abuse,  although  Mr.  Overstreet  by  presenting  the  letter 
had  made  some,  if  tardy  and  incomplete,  reparation. 
Nevertheless,  one  cannot  but  express  the  wish  that  earlier 
in  this  unhappy  debate  (which  was  in  part  under  his  con 
trol)  and  while  congressmen  all  about  were  scoring  and 


154  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

grilling  the  Postmaster-General  and  his  department,  Mr. 
Overstreet  had  remembered  and  produced  this  important 
letter. 

The  resolution  appointing  the  select  committee  was 
adopted  at  the  close  of  the  eventful  session  of  March  n, 
and  Mr.  Samuel  W.  McCall,  of  Massachusetts,  was  its 
chairman.  In  gathering  material  for  this  report  the  com 
mittee  visited  the  bedside  of  Mr.  Payne  on  April  2,  1904. 
By  the  report  of  this  committee,  as  printed,  the  origin  of 
the  List,  which  caused  all  the  trouble,  was  traced  and  the 
fact  established  that  Mr.  Payne  had  no  knowledge  of  its 
existence  until  its  publicity  was  requested.  It  also  ap 
peared  that  Mr.  Payne  had  been  unwilling  to  publish  this 
List  with  its  accompaniment  of  public  names,  and  that  he 
yielded  only  at  the  solicitation  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Post  Office  and  Post-roads;  that  prior  to  the  completion 
of  the  Amended  List  it  had  been  submitted  in  its  unfinished 
state  to  the  chairman  of  this  committee,  Mr.  Overstreet, 
who  had  expressed  himself  satisfied  with  its  form  and  sub 
stance,  and  that  during  the  preparation  of  this  precious 
document  it  had  been  carefully  shielded  from  all  eyes,  ex 
cept  those  working  upon  it.  The  Special  Committee's  re 
port  contained  also  the  letters  (Letters  B,  C  and  D)  which 
had  been  omitted  from  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Post  Office  and  Post-roads  and  corrected  the  dates  in 
Letters  A  and  G.  The  genesis  of  the  odious  head-line  was 
also  traced  and  the  fact  developed  that,  although  it  had 
originated  in  the  Printing  Office,  copies  of  the  report 
with  the  objectionable  head-lines  thick  upon  them  had 
been  in  the  hands  of  the  Clerk  of  the  Committee  on  the 
Post  Office  and  Post-roads  thirty  hours  before  any  ob 
jection  had  been  made  to  them  or  change  requested  on 
account  of  their  phraseology. 


CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         155 


Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  report  of  the  Select  Com 
mittee  by  bringing  out  the  real  facts,  and  all  the  facts,  had 
exonerated  Mr.  Payne  and  his  department  from  all  blame, 
and  had  placed  whatever  culpability  there  was  in  making 
the  disclosure  contained  in  the  amended  list,  and  what 
ever  disgrace  followed  on  account  of  the  exposure,  pri 
marily  upon  the  Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and  Post- 
roads  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

On  April  9,  1904,  and  prior  to  the  publication  of  the 
report  of  the  Select  Committee,  the  post  office  appropria 
tion  bill  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1905,  was 
pending  in  the  Senate.  In  the  course  of  the  debate  which 
took  place  Senator  Spooner  took  occasion  to  defend  the 
administration  of  the  Post  Office  Department  by  Mr. 
Payne,  and  to  vindicate  him  from  the  aspersions  which 
had  been  cast  upon  him.  The  speech  of  Senator  Spooner 
aroused  widespread  interest  and  was  of  salutary  effect. 
Quotations  from  it  have  already  been  made  in  this 
biography.* 

Notwithstanding  exoneration,  and  notwithstanding  it 
was  evident  that  continued  criticism  from  Democratic 
sources  was  intended  merely  to  influence  votes  at  the  im 
pending  presidential  election,  Mr.  Payne  felt  keenly  the 
injustice  to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  and  which  had 
added  to  the  deepening  shadows  gathering  about  his  life. 

Upon  arising  from  his  sick  bed  on  April  10,  1904, 
Mr.  Payne  took  a  sea  voyage  on  the  United  States 
revenue  cutter  Onondaga,  which  had  been  ordered  to 
Galveston,  Texas.  This  rest  afforded  him  temporary 

*Pages  119,  137. 


156  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

benefit.  Returning  he  left  the  vessel  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  fearing  the  storms  and  roughness  off  Cape 
Hatteras. 

Captain  Worth  G.  Ross,  of  the  Onondaga,  with  whom 
this,  as  well  as  several  other  ocean  trips  had  been  taken, 
has  given  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Payne  in  the  following  lan 
guage  : 

The  death  of  General  Payne  was  to  me  in  the  nature  of  a  great 
personal  loss.  There  was  no  one  in  eminent  public  position  whom  I 
knew  so  well,  for  I  had  had  the  advantages  of  close  and  friendly 
relations  with  him  under  exceptional  circumstances.  To  sail  with  a 
man  is  usually  to  form  a  very  clear  estimate  of  his  character,  as 
changing  and  unlocked  for  conditions  on  shipboard  are  sure  to  bring 
out  his  true  points.  The  cruises  I  made  with  General  Payne,  who 
was  a  guest  of  my  ship,  I  recall  with  singular  pleasure,  and  account 
them  as  among  the  most  interesting  of  my  experience.  Notwith 
standing  his  poor  health  at  the  time,  these  trips  were  not  arranged 
for  his  convenience,  but  were  availed  of  by  him  during  the  regular 
service  of  the  vessel,  and  one  of  them  at  least  was  made  at  a  season 
of  the  year  when  disquieting  weather  was  the  rule  rather  than 
otherwise.  He  was  an  ardent  lover  of  the  sea  in  all  its  phases,  and 
under  its  influence  he  seemed  at  once  to  gain  in  strength  and  spirits. 
Appreciative  always  of  its  gentler  moods,  he  was  ever  impressed 
with  the  grandeur  of  the  storm.  I  saw  him  in  as  joyous  a  temper 
as  any,  I  think,  on  one  occasion  when  we  were  rounding  the  famed 
Hatteras  with  the  white-crested  waves  sweeping  over  the  bows  of 
the  ship.  He  derived  much  pleasure  by  being  out  on  deck,  at  which 
times  I  was  often  his  companion.  The  far-reaching  expanse  of 
ocean,  still  and  listless  under  a  smiling  sky  or  convulsed  by  gather 
ing  storm  winds,  had  a  great  fascination  for  him. 

His  acute  powers  of  observation,  a  natural  gift,  were  a  matter 
of  surprise  to  me.  It  was  a  rare  thing,  too,  when  he  couldn't  name 
offhand  our  compass  course  within  a  point.  Always  a  good  sailor  he 
was  besides  a  model  shipmate.  Whatever  were  the  discomforts  and 
perplexities,  and  there  are  usually  many  during  a  sea  voyage,  he 
was  constantly  cheerful  under  them,  a  complaint  not  once  passing 
his  lips,  while  he  was  particularly  averse  to  having  distinctive  atten 
tions  shown  him,  his  desire  being  to  share  all  things  alike  with  those 
around  him.  These  qualities  especially  appealed  to  me  and  those  of 
my  command  in  view  of  the  shadow  that  was  then  upon  him.  His 
quiet,  unassuming,  and  straightforward  methods  were  a  marked  trait 
in  his  character  and  were  exemplified  time  and  again  when  he  called, 


CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS"         157 


unannounced  and  unpretentiously,  on  postmasters  and  other  offi 
cials  in  the  various  ports,  both  large  and  small,  we  happened  to 
enter. 

General  Payne  was  an  entertaining  talker,  clear  and  forceful, 
ford  of  a  story  and  often  telling  a  good  one  himself.  He  was, 
moreover,  an  appreciative  listener,  quick  to  catch  a  point  which,  if  it 
struck  his  fancy,  he  enjoyed  most  heartily.  I  never  knew  him  to 
introduce  the  subject  of  politics  into  a  conversation,  and  it  is  cer 
tain  that  no  one  would  have  become  aware  of  his  astuteness  in  that 
particular  from  any  voluntary  statement  of  his  own. 

Among  the  strong  attributes  of  his  character  —  "the  flower  and 
native  growth  of  noble  mind"  —  were  his  unvarying  patience  and 
fortitude  under  suffering,  his  gentleness  and  tender  consideration  at 
all  times  for  others,  an  unaffected,  open-hearted  generosity,  com 
plete  naturalness,  a  sincerity  and  strength  of  purpose,  and  unbounded 
patriotism.  His  creed  was  a  simple  one  and  he  lived  up  to  it  : 

"To  do  my  duty  in  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  shall  please 
God  to  call  me." 

There  was  none  who  came  to  know  General  Payne  who  did  not 
soon  cherish  a  real  affection  for  him.  He  possessed  the  finer  qual 
ities  of  mind  and  heart,  and  taken  all  in  all,  was  a  remarkable  man. 

Association  with  Mr.  Payne  always  produced  affec 
tion.  In  speaking  of  him  Mr.  Leslie  M.  Shaw,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  says  : 

Henry  Payne  was  one  of  the  best  men  I  ever  knew  and  one  of 
the  best  friends  that  ever  lived.  His  loss  will  long  be  felt  by  his 
associates  and  friends,  and  all  his  associates  were  his  friends. 

In  the  same  strain  spoke  Mr.  John  Hay,  then  Secre 
tary  of  State: 

I  find  it  difficult  to  speak  about  a  subject  so  near  to  my  heart 
as  this.  In  common  with  every  one  who  knew  Mr.  Payne,  I  had  not 
only  a  high  regard  and  esteem  for  him,  but  sincere  affection. 

He  was  a  man  of  peculiarly  lovable  character,  a  man  so  sincere 
and  genuine  and  upright  himself  that  he  was  slow  to  believe  evil  of 
any  one  else;  but  if  he  had  reason  to  think  that  his  confidence  had 
been  abused,  no  one  was  quicker  to  punish  wrong-doing  and  the 
wrong-doer  than  he  was. 

He  rapidly  won  the  respect  and  regard  of  every  one  with  whom 
he  was  brought  in  contact,  and  his  death  will  make  a  deep  impression 
in  Washington,  not  only  through  a  sense  of  personal  bereavement, 
but  also  the  feeling  that  the  country  has  lost  a  patriotic  citizen  and  a 
most  valuable  public  servant. 


158  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Hardly  among  those  who  knew  him  and  valued  him  in  his  own 
state  will  there  be  more  genuine  grief  than  here  among  those  who 
only  a  few  years  ago  were  comparative  strangers  to  him. 

Mr.  Victor  H.  Metcalf,  then  Secretary  of  Commerce 
and  Labor,  thus  expressed  himself : 

I  have  known  Mr.  Payne  intimately  for  many  years,  and  I  re 
gard  his  death  as  a  national  loss.  He  possessed  great  force  of  char 
acter  and  business  aptitude.  He  devoted  his  entire  time  to  the 
duties  of  his  office  and  the  unceasing  attention  he  gave  to  it,  to  my 
mind,  accounts  for  his  untimely  taking  off.  I  think  he  was  the  most 
lovable  man  that  I  ever  met,  and  possessed  the  kindliest  disposition 
of  any  man  I  have  ever  known. 

His  whole  heart  and  soul  were  in  his  work.  It  could  not  be 
otherwise,  for  it  was  the  ambition  of  his  life  to  be  postmaster- 
general,  and  he  possessed  admirable  fitness  for  the  position  because 
of  the  previous  training  received. 

Mr.  Paul  Morton,  then  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  ex 
claimed  : 

We  shall  all  miss  his  wise  counsel  and  good  judgment. 

Secretary  Wilson  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
who  entered  the  cabinet  at  the  beginning  of  the  McKinley 
administration,  used  this  language: 

Mr.  Payne  was  such  a  genial  gentleman  that  the  Cabinet  offi 
cials  regret  his  death  as  a  personal  loss.  The  work  of  the  post 
office  department  is  heavy,  and  is  growing  greater  all  the  time.  Mr. 
Payne  was  a  thoroughly  trained  business  man,  possessing  a  knowl 
edge  of  his  work,  and  carried  this  work  into  successful  administra 
tion. 

In  the  discharge  of  his  duties  the  Postmaster-General  sees  more 
of  the  President  than  any  other  member  of  the  Cabinet,  and  thus  is 
thrown  into  closer  official  relationship  with  the  chief  executive.  In 
this  capacity  Mr.  Payne's  judgment  in  regard  to  national  affairs 
was  of  great  service.  He  knew  the  country  and  was  familiar  with 
the  lines  along  which  it  was  growing  and  developing.  Mr.  Payne's 
value  and  service  can  well  be  epitomized  by  saying  that  he  was  a 
high  type  of  the  American  business  man.  Personally  my  relations 
with  him  have  been  close.  We  were  both  western  men  with  many 
views  in  common,  and  I  was  greatly  attached  to  him. 


CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS'''         159 


Secretary  Hitchcock  of  the  Interior  Department,  thus 
expressed  his  feelings  : 

The  Government  has  lost  a  faithful  servant  ;  Republican  prin 
ciples  a  loyal  and  earnest  supporter,  and  his  associates  a  genial  and 
steadfast  friend,  while  those  who  knew  him  intimately  realize  what 
an  irreparable  loss  his  family  have  sustained. 

Mr.  Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Speaker  of  the  House,  tele 
graphed  while  on  a  campaigning  tour  in  Minnesota  : 

Mr.  Payne  was  my  good  friend  through  many  years,  and  I 
mourn  his  death  as  I  appreciate  his  friendship  and  his  public  service. 

Perhaps  may  be  properly  placed  here  some  words 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Powell  Clayton,  of  Eureka  Springs, 
Arkansas,  member  of  the  Republican  National  Committee, 
and  Ambassador  to  Mexico  from  1897  to  1905  : 

Some  twenty-two  years  ago  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  make 
the  acquaintance  of  Henry  C.  Payne  :  an  acquaintance  which  soon 
ripened  into  a  friendship  which  was  only  interrupted  by  the  inter 
vention  of  death.  During  the  long  period  of  its  existence  I  had 
many  opportunities  to  observe,  and  acquaint  myself  with,  his  char 
acteristics,  which,  I  feel,  justifies  me  in  saying  that,  as  a  friend,  he 
was  always  steadfast  and  loyal  ;  as  a  business  man  he  did  not  achieve 
success  by  rudely  thrusting  aside  or  trampling  under  foot  his  com 
petitors.  His  business  methods  and  acts  were  fair  and  honorable  ; 
as  a  politician  he  belonged  to  that  school  which  regards  the  words 
"Politics"  and  "Statesmanship"  as  so  near  akin  as  to  be  almost 
synonymous.  Although  firm  and  courageous  in  his  convictions  he 
was  tolerant  of  the  opinions  of  others  ;  as  a  public  official,  with 
scrupulous  integrity  and  untiring  zeal  he  bent  all  of  his  faculties  to 
the  \vork  assigned  him,  frequently  devoting  hours  to  it  when,  had 
he  listened  to  nature's  admonitions,  he  would  have  been  at  his  home 
in  bed.  In  a  few  words,  I  believe,  if  the  life  of  Henry  C.  Payne 
were  truthfully  written  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  poor,  strug 
gling  youths  of  America,  it  would  furnish  a  lamp  to  light  their  feet 
through  many  a  dangerous  place  and  perplexing  labyrinth  in  life's 
pathway  —  an  inspiration  to  noble  and  heroic  deeds  in  a  fair  field  of 
competition  for  life's  alluring  prizes. 

A  friendship  particularly  close  and  sympathetic  ex 
isted  between  Mr.  Payne  and  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Manley,  of 
Augusta,  Maine,  a  member  of  the  Republican  National 


160  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

Committee.  And  because  Mr.  Manley  himself  has  since 
followed  Mr.  Payne  in  death  I  venture  to  transcribe  entire 
a  letter  from  him,  written  upon  hearing  of  the  loss  sus 
tained  by  Mrs.  Payne : 

AUGUSTA,  MAINE,  loth  October,  1904. 
MY  DEAR  MRS.  PAYNE: 

I  received  the  sad  news  of  dear  Mr.  Payne's  death  with  great 
sorrow.  I  have  known  him  these  many  years,  and  always  found 
him  a  lovable,  kind,  affectionate  man.  He  was  the  soul  of  honor, 
always  thoughtful  of  others,  giving  his  life  really  for  others,  a  great 
lover  of  his  country,  and  a  true  and  zealous  and  honest  party  man. 
His  death  will  be  a  great  loss  to  President  Roosevelt,  the  Republican 
party,  to  Wisconsin  and  the  country  at  large.  What  it  is  to  you 
and  his  friends  I  cannot  cross  the  threshold  of  your  grief  to  say. 
You  will  always  have  his  bright  and  happy  and  cheerful  life  to  re 
member.  You  will  know  how  thoughtful  and  affectionate  he  was 
to  you  and  those  closely  connected  with  him.  Your  loss  will  be 
great,  and  I  can  only  offer  you  my  heartfelt  sorrow. 

I  trust  the  good  God  will  give  you  strength  to  bear  your  great 
grief  and  keep  you  up  in  your  terrible  affliction. 

You  have  my  deepest  sympathy. 

I  am,  sincerely  yours, 

J.  H.  MANLEY. 

The  death  of  Senator  Hanna,  which  had  occurred  in 
Washington,  February  15,  1904,  had  imposed  additional 
duties  upon  Mr.  Payne  when,  physically,  he  was  ill  pre 
pared  to  assume  them.  As  vice  chairman  of  the  Re 
publican  National  Committee  the  acting  chairmanship  fell 
to  Mr.  Payne  and  he  performed  the  duties  necessary  to 
the  position  preliminary  to  the  Republican  National  Con 
vention.  This  body  convened  at  Chicago,  June  21,  1904. 
On  June  15,  1904,  at  the  Auditorium  Hotel  in  that  city, 
just  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the  National  Convention  at 
which  he  was  to  preside,  Mr.  Payne  was  taken  suddenly 
ill  and  was  unable  to  be  present  at  the  meeting.  Senator 
Scott,  of  West  Virginia,  presided  in  his  stead.  Mr.  Payne 
rallied  sufficiently  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  of  the 


"THE  CHARGES  CONCERNING  MEMBERS'''         161 

Committee  held  two  days  later,  June  17,  but  felt  too  feeble 
for  the  arduous  duty  of  presiding.  He  was  sufficiently 
recovered  to  attend  the  last  meeting  of  the  Committee, 
held  June  20,  at  which  he  was  formally  elected  chairman 
as  successor  to  Senator  Hanna.  On  June  21,  at  noon, 
Mr.  Payne  called  to  order  the  Republican  National  Con 
vention  of  1904,  being  greeted  with  great  applause  from 
convention  and  galleries  as  he  arose  to  perform  his  duty. 
As  he  was  beginning  he  was  interrupted  by  the  chairman 
of  the  Chicago  Citizens'  Committee  w7ho,  in  its  behalf, 
presented  him  with  a  gavel  inscribed,  "Mr.  Henry  C. 
Payne,  Chairman  Republican  National  Convention, 
1904."  Using  this  symbol  of  authority,  Mr.  Payne  then 
introduced  Mr.  Elihu  Root  as  the  temporary  chairman  of 
the  Convention  and  withdrew.  Of  the  new  National  Com 
mittee  formed  after  the  Convention  had  nominated 
Roosevelt  and  Fairbanks,  Mr.  George  B.  Cortelyou  was 
chosen  chairman,  and  Mr.  Payne  no  longer  led  Repub 
lican  hosts  to  Republican  triumphs.  After  a  short  visit  to 
Milwaukee,  destined  to  be  his  last,  Mr.  Payne  returned  to 
Washington. 

On  July  n,  1904,  he,  with  Mrs.  Payne  and  her  niece, 
Miss  Louise  Jones,  left  Washington  again,  to  have  the 
pleasure  and  benefit  of  another  sea  voyage  with  Captain 
Ross.  This  was  a  jaunt  along  the  New  England  coast  to 
Portland,  Maine,  upon  the  trial  cruise  of  the  revenue  cut 
ter  Mohawk.  At  Portland  the  party  were  the  guests  for 
two  days  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Payne's  cousin,  Mr.  Elias 
Thomas.  The  cruise  ended  at  Boston  July  21,  1904,  and 
the  Postmaster-General  returned  to  his  desk  in  Wash 
ington. 


162  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


CHAPTER  XVII 


Last 

On  September  i,  1904,  Mr.  Payne,  accompanied  by 
his  wife,  visited  his  sister,  Mrs.  Cameron,  in  Jamestown, 
New  York.  Upon  the  evening  of  his  arrival  a  reception 
was  tendered  to  their  guests  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cameron, 
which  was  largely  attended  by  the  citizens — men,  women 
and  children — of  Jamestown  and  surrounding  places. 
Upon  the  next  day  Mr.  Payne  assisted  at  the  opening  of 
the  new  post  office  building,  which,  although  not  quite 
ready  for  occupancy,  was  fitted  up  for  a  reception  tend 
ered  to  Mr.  Payne,  the  reception  forming  a  part  of  the 
opening  exercises.  A  general  invitation  was  issued  to 
the  citizens  of  Jamestown  and  surrounding  towns,  many 
flocked  to  meet  him  and  all  gave  him  a  most  cordial  wel 
come.  This  structure  has  since  been  completed,  and  a 
picture  of  Mr.  Payne  now  hangs  in  one  of  the  offices  in 
recollection  of  the  initial  ceremonies,  and  as  the  portrait 
of  a  friend  whom  the  people  in  Jamestown  "had  learned 
both  to  respect  and  to  love." 

From  Jamestown  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne,  accompanied 
by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cameron,  journeyed  into  New  England, 
having  at  their  service  the  private  car  Minnesota,  tendered 
them  by  Mr.  Albert  J.  Earling,  president  of  the  Chicago, 
Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Railway  Company.  Their  first 
stop  was  at  North  Adams,  Massachusetts,  where  Mr. 
Payne  added  to  the  party  his  childhood  friend  and  in- 


THE  LAST  THINGS  163 

structor,  Miss  Diana  S.  Bowen  and  Miss  Eliza  I.  May- 
nard,  an  old  time  friend.  Leaving  North  Adams  in  the 
afternoon  of  Monday,  September  5,  they  drove  over  the 
Hoosac  Mountain  (a  favorite  boyhood  drive  of  Mr. 
Payne's)  to  Shelburne  Falls,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  better 
the  delightsome  scenery  and  to  recall  more  quietly  and 
thus  more  effectively  the  pleasant  memories  of  early  years. 
The  party  arrived  in  Shelburne  Falls  late  on  Monday  and 
obtained  entertainment  at  the  hotel  there.  In  the  morn 
ing  of  Tuesday,  September  6,  Henry — for  so  his  child 
hood  comrades  still  fondly  called  him — drove  about  the 
village,  ruminating  of  the  early  days,  recalling  and  rever 
encing  the  memory  of  his  parents,  renewing  many  old 
friendships  and  winning  many  new  friends  by  his  geniality 
and  sunny  disposition.  In  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday,  the 
Payne  party,  re-enforced  by  their  friends,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Edwin  Baker,  of  Shelburne  Falls,  visited  Ashfield  Plain, 
the  natal  place  of  Mr.  Payne  and  of  his  sister.  After  be 
ing  entertained  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Porter,  hosts  of  the  Ash- 
field  House,  the  visitors  returned  by  way  of  Conway  to 
Shelburne  Falls.  On  Wednesday  morning,  September  7, 
the  party  drove  to  Charlemont,  where  they  attended  the 
annual  gathering  of  the  Old  Folks'  Association  of  Charle 
mont.  In  the  evening  they  were  entertained  by  the  Shel 
burne  Falls  Club,  \vhere  Mr.  Payne  spoke  feelingly  and 
entertainingly  of  his  childhood  and  youth  among  his  lis 
teners  forty  years  before.  On  Thursday,  September  8,  he 
attended  a  campfire  of  Company  H,  Tenth  Massachusetts 
Infantry  Regiment, — the  company  which  in  1862  had  re 
fused  him  enlistment.  On  Friday  he  bade  final  farewell 
to  Shelburne  Falls. 


164  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

More  than  nine  months  after  this,  on  June  21,  1905, 
President  Roosevelt,  journeying  through  western  Massa 
chusetts  upon  the  occasion  of  receiving  the  degree  of 
doctor  of  laws  from  Williams  College,  requested  that  his 
train  might  stop  at  Shelburne  Falls,  exclaiming  to  the 
throng  of  assembled  citizens :  "I  wanted  to  stop  here 
where  my  valued  friend,  Henry  C.  Payne,  afterwards 
Postmaster-General,  passed  his  early  years,  and  to  'say  a 
word  of  tribute  to  the  memory  of  as  gentle  and  loyal  a 
soul  as  ever  took  part  in  public  life." 

On  Friday,  September  9,  1904,  the  Payne  party  ar 
rived  from  Shelburne  Falls  in  Northampton,  where  they 
remained  over  the  ensuing  Sunday  at  the  Norwood  Hotel. 
To  seek  his  fortune  in  the  then  distant  west  he,  an  un 
known  lad,  had  left  this  city  more  than  two  score  years 
before;  he  returned  now,  full  of  years  and  honors,  to  re 
visit  the  old  scenes,  to  re-cherish  the  old  friends,  to  recall 
the  old  memories,  and  then,  a  few  days  later  only — for  so 
it  was  to  be — to  close  the  volume  of  his  life  and  die. 

The  morning  of  Saturday,  September  10,  was  spent  in 
receiving  and  visiting  friends,  the  afternoon  in  drives,  and 
the  evening  at  a  reception  tendered  to  Mr.  Payne  by  the 
Northampton  Club.  After  a  quiet  Sunday,  the  little  party 
made  a  visit  to  Mount  Tom  in  the  morning  of  Monday.  In 
the  afternoon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  E.  Smith,  of  Spring 
field,  former  Northampton  friends  of  Mr.  Payne,  toured 
over  from  Springfield  in  their  automobile  and  took  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Payne  a  ride  of  sixty-five  miles  in  length,  through 
Deerfield,  Hatfield,  Sunderland  and  Amherst — a  choice 
experience  for  Mr.  Payne,  for  he  thus  revisited  boyhood 
friends  and  haunts.  On  Tuesday,  September  13,  promi 
nent  citizens  and  friends  from  Greenfield  tendered  him  a 


THE  LAST  THINGS  165 

dinner,  drive  and  reception,  on  accepting  which  a  delega 
tion  came  with  a  private  electric  car  to  escort  him  to  the 
old  town,  where  the  party  passed  a  most  enjoyable  day. 
On  Wednesday  morning  there  was  a  quiet  drive  to  and 
about  Turner's  Falls,  and  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  Sep 
tember  14,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne  started  in  the  Minnesota 
for  New  York  and  Washington.  This  had  been  a  trip  of 
great  interest  and  enjoyment  to  Mr.  Payne,  but  it  had 
caused  great  fatigue. 

One  of  the  last  drives  about  the  capital  taken  by  Mr. 
Payne — a  favorite  spot  with  him — was  to  visit  a  place, 
indicated  by  markers,  where  lie  buried  two  members  of 
his  favorite  Company  H  of  the  Tenth  Massachusetts, 
Michael  Doherty  and  William  Mehan,  who  had  died  in 
the  fall  of  1 86 1  when  this  troop  was  stationed  at  Wash 
ington  for  its  defense. 

On  Saturday,  September  24,  1904,  he,  with  his  wife, 
attended  the  last  social  gathering  in  which  he  was  to 
participate.  This  was  a  dinner  given  by  President  and 
Mrs.  Roosevelt  in  honor  of  Most  Reverend  Randall 
Thomas  Davidson,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  England, 
who,  with  his  wife,  was  then  visiting  in  Washington. 

On  Tuesday,  September  27,  1904,  Mr.  Payne  attended 
the  customary  cabinet  meeting,  and  in  the  afternoon  took 
a  short  drive  to  Rock  Creek  Park,  but  that  night  his  sleep 
was  restless  and  disturbed.  On  Wednesday  forenoon  he 
sat  at  his  desk  at  the  Post  Office  Department,  but  feeling 
unequal  to  the  labor  he  did  not  return  after  luncheon. 
Wednesday  night  he  became  very  ill.  The  newspapers  of 
the  country  received  dispatches  on  Thursday  that  "Post 
master-General  Henry  C.  Payne  is  seriously  ill  at  his 
apartments  at  the  Hotel  Arlington  here.  Marked  symp- 


166  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

toms  of  heart  trouble  have  developed  and  his  condition  be 
came  so  serious  during  the  day  as  to  cause  grave  con 
cern."  Nevertheless,  during  the  early  period  of  his  ill 
ness,  he  devoted  much  time  and  energy  to  public  busi 
ness,  dictating  important  letters,  receiving  information 
about  pressing  affairs  and  eagerly  inquiring  for  news  of 
the  political  battle  that  then  was  disturbing  the  country. 

His  physician  was  Dr.  G.  Lloyd  Magruder,  who,  how 
ever,  received  the  daily  counsel  and  the  diagnosis  of  Dr. 
Presley  M.  Rixey,  surgeon-general  of  the  navy,  Dr.  Gary 
T.  Grayson,  also  of  the  navy,  and  Dr.  William  Osier,  a 
specialist  in  diseases  of  the  heart,  from  Johns  Hopkins 
University  at  Baltimore.  Daily  bulletins  were  issued  by 
the  physicians,  but  from  the  first  the  information  con 
veyed  thereby  was  disheartening.  There  was  a  succession 
of  sinking  spells,  each  of  increasing  severity  and  the  rally 
from  each  left  the  patient  on  a  lower  level,  until  exhausted 
nature  forbade  further  rallies.  On  the  afternoon  of  Sun 
day,  October  2,  Mrs.  Payne  fearing  that  the  end  was  then 
imminent,  sent  for  the  Rev.  Roland  Cotton  Smith,  D.D., 
of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church,  Washington,  by  whom 
prayers  suitable  to  the  solemn  hour  were  read.  Mean 
while  the  relatives  of  Mr.  Payne  and  of  his  wife  had  been 
summoned  and  had  arrived  at  the  bedside. 

The  deepest  concern  was  felt  and  exhibited  by  the 
President  and  his  official  family.  Every  day,  sometimes 
twice  daily,  Mr.  Roosevelt  called,  and,  although  forbidden 
to  see  his  friend,  remained  in  the  outer  rooms  hoping  for 
news  of  improvement.  Mrs.  Roosevelt  was  a  frequent 
soothing  visitor  to  Mrs.  Payne,  and  when  duties  prevented 
a  daily  call  sent  floral  substitutes  from  the  White  House 
conservatories.  The  cabinet  officers  and  members  of  their 
families,  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Ambassadors, 
the  Admiral  of  the  Navy,  the  officials  of  the  Post  Office 


THE  LAST  THINGS  167 

Department,  the  representatives  of  foreign  governments, 
and  others  high  in  rank  then  in  the  city,  either  called  in 
person  or  sent  frequent  messengers  of  inquiry. 

Mrs.  Payne,  although  herself  an  invalid,  and  although 
feeling  that  all  efforts  were  to  be  unavailing,  kept  con 
stant  vigil  with  the  physicians  and  nurses,  and  wore  out 
her  own  strength  in  the  watch  about  the  bedside  of  him 
who  had  her  name  almost  always  upon  his  lips.  How 
frequent  to  her  thought  must  have  been  the  reminiscence 
of  her  early  married  life  in  Milwaukee  \vhen  the  strong 
husband,  now  stricken  and  doomed  to  death,  was  her 
affectionate,  loyal  and  constant  minister ! 

Towards  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  Monday, 
October  3,  there  was  apparently  a  wonderful  improve 
ment  in  the  sufferer's  condition  and  there  was  the  swell 
ing  of  hope  in  the  hearts  of  the  unskilled.  But  to  the 
waiting  physicians  it  was  the  last  supreme  rally  before 
the  end.  Then  delirium  supervened  and  mingled  with 
affectionate  expressions  for  his  wife  were  orders  con 
cerning  the  presidential  contest  then  raging-.  At  noon  of 
Tuesday  the  sick  man  relapsed  into  unconsciousness,  out 
of  which  he  did  not  emerge.  His  last  words  were,  "Tell 
him  I  want  to  see  him  before  he  goes."  His  Private  Secre 
tary,  Mr.  Whitney,  was  standing  at  the  time  by  the  bed 
side  and  after  Mr.  Payne  had  recognized  him  with  a  few 
words,  the  above  order  was  addressed  to  the  attending 
physician  with  reference  to  Mr.  Whitney. *  These  words 


*Concerning  Mr.  Whitney  I  venture  to  copy  the  following  sen 
tences  from  a  despatch  of  October  5,  1904,  from  the  Washington 
correspondent  of  the  Milwaukee  Sentinel,  to  that  newspaper: 

A  faithful  and  devoted  friend  and  servant  through  twelve  years 
of  active  business  life,  in  the  details  of  departmental  duty  here,  and 
down  to  the  hour  of  his  death,  has  been  Mr.  Payne's  private  secre 
tary,  Francis  H.  Whitney,  of  Milwaukee.  Mr.  Whitney  came  with 
Mr.  Payne  when  the  latter  entered  the  department.  He  was  wholly 
unaccustomed  to  official  life,  but  he  accustomed  himself  to  the  de- 


168  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

had  been  Mr.  Payne's  frequent  order  while  at  his  desk, 
and  at  this  last  hour  he  used  them  doubtless  from  force 
of  habit. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  of  Tuesday  the  President  came 
— the  last  caller  upon  Mr.  Payne  outside  of  those  upon 
duty  with  him.  Mr.  Roosevelt  remained  until  six  o'clock. 
Issuing  from  the  rooms,  to  those  in  waiting  outside  he 
pronounced  his  dying  friend  to  be  "the  sweetest,  most 
lovable,  and  most  trustful  man  he  ever  knew." 

At  ten  minutes  past  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  Tues 
day,  October  4,  1904,  the  soul  of  Mr.  Payne  left  his  weary 
body.  There  wrere  present  at  his  bedside  besides  Mrs. 
Payne  and  her  relatives,  and  the  kinsfolk  of  Mr.  Payne, 
the  Rev.  E.  Slater  Dunlap  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  L.  Mason,  of  Washington,  Mr. 
Payne's  Secretary  Mr.  Whitney,  Miss  Marie  Barbieri 
who  was  Mrs.  Payne's  attendant,  and  the  colored  messen 
ger  of  the  Post  Office  Department. 

The  official  bulletin  of  the  physicians  read : 
The  Postmaster-General  died  at  6:10  p.m.     He  died  peacefully 
without   a   struggle.     Cause   of   death,   disease   of  mitral   valve   and 
dilatation  of  the  heart. 

P.  M.  RIXEY, 

G.  LLOYD  MAGRUDER, 

C.  T.  GRAYSON. 


tails  of  his  position  and  endeared  himself  to  the  multitude  of  callers 
who  daily  thronged  the  rooms  of  the  Postmaster-General. 

Although  young,  he  was  ever  discreet  and  exhibited  a  high  sense 
of  propriety  upon  all  occasions,  and  the  tact  and  good  judgment 
which  become  the  closest  companion  of  one  in  high  official  place. 
In  the  long  sad  hours  of  Mr.  Payne's  last  illness  Mr.  Whitney  has 
been  in  constant  attendance,  looking  after  the  wants  of  the  family, 
meeting  and  advising  with  visitors,  and  keeping  the  outside  world 
advised  by  information  carefully  disseminated  to  the  newspaper  cor 
respondents.  At  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night  since  Wednesday 
last  Mr.  Whitney  has  been  accessible,  and  his  devotion  was  one  of 
the  touching  incidents  of  the  long  hours  of  ceaseless  vigil. 


THE  LAST  THINGS  169 

The  Secretary  of  Mr.  Payne  was  overwhelmed  with 
messages  of  condolence,  sympathy  and  sorrow,  addressed 
to  him  and  to  Mrs.  Payne  from  all  sections  of  the  country 
and  particularly  from  the  home  city  and  state.  These 
have  been  preserved  and  in  their  arranged  and  bound  con 
dition  evidence  eloquently  the  esteem,  and  affection  so 
widely  and  so  universally  felt  for  him  who  had  gone. 
Among  the  first  to  send  a  message  of  sorrow  was  Mr. 
Albert  j.  Earling  of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 
Railway  Company,  who,  with  his  message  of  sympathy, 
placed  his  private  car  at  the  service  of  the  family  for  the 
sad  journey  to  Milwaukee. 

Upon  the  day  after  Mr.  Payne's  death  the  President 
issued  the  following  proclamation : 

To  the  People  of  the  United  States: 

Henry  Clay  Payne,  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States, 
died  in  this  city  at  10  minutes  past  6  o'clock  yesterday  afternoon. 

Rising  to  eminence  by  his  own  efforts,  successful  in  his  enter 
prises,  attaining  to  positions  of  high  trust  in  private  business,  ener 
getic  and  conscientious  in  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men,  of  singu 
larly  gentle,  loyal  and  lovable  nature,  inspired  by  a  large  sense  of 
the  duties  of  a  true  citizen,  and  winning  the  respect  and  esteem  of 
all  with  whom  he  associated,  he  was  called  in  the  fullness  of  his 
powers  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a  peculiarly  onerous  and  respon 
sible  office  in  the  high  councils  of  the  nation.  His  career  is  an  ex 
ample  for  good  citizens  to  follow,  and  his  untimely  death  is  mourned 
by  all. 

The  President  directs  that  the  several  executive  departments 
and  their  dependencies  shall  show  fitting  regard  for  the  memory  of 
this  distinguished  public  man;  that  the  departments  in  the  city  of 
Washington  shall  be  closed  between  the  hours  of  g  o'clock  a.m.  and 
i  o'clock  p.m.  on  the  day  of  the  funeral,  Friday,  the  7th  inst.,  and 
that  the  national  flag  shall  be  displayed  at  half-mast  upon  all  the 
public  buildings  throughout  the  United  States  from  now  until  the 
funeral  shall  have  taken  place. 

By  direction  of  the  President. 

JOHN  HAY. 
Department  of  State, 

Washington,  Oct.  5,  1904. 


170  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Upon  the  same  day  the  following  message  was  cabled 
by  the  general  postal  authorities  in  London : 

LONDON,  October  5. 
The  Post  Office  Department,  Washington. 

Lord  Stanley,  his  Majesty's  Postmaster-General,  and  Mr.  Bab- 
ington  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  British  Post  Office,  desire  to  express 
their  deep  sympathy  with  the  Post  Office  Department  of  the  United 
States  in  the  heavy  loss  which  it  has  sustained  in  the  death  of  H.  C. 
Payne,  the  Postmaster-General. 

On  Thursday,  October  6,  the  following  proclamation 
was  issued  by  the  Governor  of  Wisconsin : 

It  is  my  painful  duty  to  announce  to  the  people  of  Wisconsin 
that  Henry  C.  Payne,  Postmaster-General  of  the  United  States,  died 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  Tuesday,  Oct.  4. 

In  the  death  of  Henry  C.  Payne  the  state  of  Wisconsin  loses 
one  of  its  most  widely  known  and  distinguished  citizens.  He  was 
prominently  identified  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  with  state  and 
national  politics.  His  commanding  ability  and  unusual  genius  as  an 
organizer  won  him  success  and  a  reputation  both  as  a  politician  and 
a  business  man.  His  genial  personality,  generous  nature  and  sym 
pathetic  qualities  made  him  a  delightful  companion.  His  friendships 
were  warm  and  lasting,  and  he  will  be  honored  by  a  far-reaching 
circle  of  loving  friends  and  associates. 

In  respect  to  his  memory,  I  direct  that  the  national  flag  be  dis 
played  at  half-mast  on  all  municipal  buildings  until  sundown  of  the 
day  of  the  burial. 

In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused 
the  great  seal  of  the  state  of  Wisconsin  to  be  affixed.  Drawn  at  the 
capitol,  in  the  city  of  Madison,  this  sixth  day  of  October,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1904. 

ROBERT  M.  LAFOLLETTE. 

On  the  same  day  the  following  proclamation  was 
issued  by  the  Mayor  of  Milwaukee: 

Henry  Clay  Payne,  a  citizen  of  Milwaukee,  is  dead.  In  many 
positions  of  private  and  public  trust  he  reflected  much  honor  upon 
our  city.  At  his  demise  he  was  Postmaster-General  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  such  a  member  of  the  presidential  cabinet,  an  exalted 
station  and  so  regarded  by  all  men.  We  recall  his  eventful  and 


THE  LAST  THINGS  171 

honorable  career  only  with  patriotic  memory.  Partisan  considera 
tions  died  with  him,  and  we  deplore  his  loss  as  a  citizen,  as  a  man, 
and  as  a  public  servant. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  that  our  people  should  show  their  appre 
ciation  of  his  worth,  of  the  honor  which  in  official  station  he  brought 
to  our  municipality,  our  esteem  for  him  as  a  neighbor,  and  manifest 
sorrow  at  his  untimely  departure. 

I  therefore  direct  that  flags  be  displayed  at  half-mast  from  the 
city  hall  and  from  all  departments  and  public  buildings  until  his 
funeral  obsequies  shall  be  ended. 

It  is  so  ordered. 

DAVID  S.  ROSE,  Mayor. 

The  funeral  in  Washington  occurred  at  1 1  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  Friday,  October  7,  1904,  at  Saint  John's 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  Rev.  Roland  Cotton 
Smith,  D.D.,  the  rector,  officiating,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  E. 
Slater  Dunlap.  The  church  was  thronged  with  mourn 
ing  friends,  including  the  President  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt, 
the  members  of  the  cabinet  and  their  families,  the  Admiral 
of  the  Navy,  the  Chief  of  the  General  Staff,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  Senators,  Members  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  the  Members  of  the  Diplo 
matic  Corps  and  the  officials  of  the  Post  Office  Depart 
ment.  These  last  officials  occupied  the  entire  right  side 
of  the  church. 

The  services  were  marked  by  great  simplicity  and 
consisted  of  the  reading  of  the  burial  service  and  the  sing 
ing  of  hymns  selected  by  Mrs.  Payne,  "Lead,  Kindly 
Light,"  "Jesus,  Lover  of  My  Soul,"  and  "Hark,  Hark, 
My  Soul." 

The  chancel  was  fragrant  with  flowers  sent  by  friends 
everywhere.  Among  these  were  flowers  from  the  dele 
gates  of  the  German  postal  administration,  from  the 
Brazilian  charge  d'  affaires,  and  from  the  Argentine  lega- 


172  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

tion.  The  only  flowers  upon  the  casket  were  those  placed 
there  on  behalf  of  Mrs.  Payne,  her  niece,  Miss  Jones,  and 
the  President  and  Mrs.  Roosevelt. 

The  casket  was  borne  from  the  residence  to  the  church 
upon  the  shoulders  of  eight  uniformed  letter  carriers,  fol 
lowed  on  foot  by  the  family,  members  of  the  cabinet  and 
of  the  household.  Officials  and  others  of  the  Post  Office 
Department  and  all  the  letter  carriers  of  Washington 
marched  from  the  Department  to  the  church  and  thence 
to  the  depot,  surrounding  and  following  the  casket,  form 
ing  a  guard  of  honor.  The  train,  in  charge  of  Secretary 
Whitney,  left  the  station  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  at 
3  135  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  the  casket  being 
in  Mr.  Earling's  private  car,  the  Minnesota,  which  was 
appropriately  draped. 

The  train  with  the  casket  arrived  in  Milwaukee  on 
Saturday  afternoon  at  2:20  o'clock;  there  being  in  the 
party  besides  the  relatives  of  Mr.  Payne  and  Mrs.  Payne, 
Secretaries  Wilson,  Metcalf,  Morton  and  Hitchcock  of 
the  cabinet,  Doctors  Magruder  and  Grayson,  Mr.  Earl- 
ing  and  Mr.  Whitney. 

As  the  train  arrived  prior  to  the  scheduled  time,  the 
car  containing  the  casket  was  sidetracked  at  the  station 
of  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul  Road,  under  the 
guard  of  a  detail  of  police.  At  about  half  past  seven 
o'clock  Saturday  evening  the  casket  was  removed  to  the 
City  Hall,  under  the  charge  of  the  letter  carriers  and  ac 
companied  by  the  honorary  pall  bearers,  members  of  the 
Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Association,  Chamber  of 
Commerce  and  Old  Settlers'  Club. 

In  the  rotunda  the  casket,  with  a  guard  of  honor,  re- 


THE  LAST  THINGS  173 

mained  all  night,  the  walls  of  the  rotunda  being  covered 
with  black  cloth,  and  draped  with  Alabama  smilax,  the 
floor  banked  on  all  sides  with  spreading  palms  and  ferns, 
while  all  about  on  pedestals  and  stands,  from  friends 
everywhere,  was  a  wealth  of  flowers  and  floral  emblems. 
Among  these  was  the  gift  of  President  and  Mrs.  Roose 
velt,  a  wreath  of  roses. 

From  8 130  o'clock  until  midnight  of  Saturday  a 
steady  stream  of  people  viewed  the  silent  face  in  the 
opened  casket,  and  from  eight  o'clock  of  Sunday  morn 
ing  until  noon  the  same  stream  of  respectful  and  solemn 
citizens  and  friends  filed  past  the  body. 

At  three  o'clock  on  Sunday  afternoon,  the  simple 
burial  service  of  the  Episcopal  Church  was  read  in  All 
Saints'  Cathedral  by  the  Right  Reverend  Isaac  L.  Nichol 
son,  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Milwaukee,  assisted 
by  Rev.  Canon  C.  B.  B.  Wright.  The  church  was  crowded 
with  the  friends  of  Mr.  Payne.  Delegations  represented 
the  Republican  National  Committee,  the  Chicago  and  Mil 
waukee  post  offices,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Mil 
waukee,  Merchants'  and  Manufacturers'  Association,  Old 
Settlers'  Club  and  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  for  the  State 
of  Wisconsin.  The  honorary  pall  bearers  wrere  Paul  D. 
Morton,  Victor  H.  Metcalf,  James  Wilson  and  William 
S.  Shallenberger,  of  Washington;  James  G.  Jenkins, 
Joseph  V.  Quarles,  Frank  G.  Bigelow,  Charles  F.  Pfister, 
John  I.  Beggs,  Alfred  L.  Gary,  Irving  M.  Bean,  Gustav 
G.  Pabst,  George  P.  Miller,  Howard  Morris,  Charles  E. 
Dyer,  Oliver  C.  Fuller,  Horace  M.  Brown,  Winslow  A. 
Nowell,  David  Vance,  Leroy  C.  Whitney,  John  D.  Mc- 
Leod,  Henry  F.  Whitcomb,  Charles  Schley,  David  C. 


174  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Owen,  of  Milwaukee;  John  C.  Spooner,  Elisha  W.  Keyes, 
of  Madison;  Graeme  Stewart,  George  R.  Peck,  of  Chi 
cago  ;  Elmer  Dover,  of  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Harry  S. 
New,  of  Indianapolis;  David  W.  Mulvane,  of  Topeka, 
Kansas;  R.  B.  Schneider,  of  Fremont,  Nebraska.* 

The  active  pall  bearers  and  guard  of  honor  were 
selected  from  the  main  office  and  stations  of  the  Milwau 
kee  post  office. 

The  burial  was  in  the  family  lot  in  Forest  Home 
cemetery. 

*Of  these  Messrs.  Dyer,  Nowell  and  Stewart  have  since  died. 


"AN  UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE"  175 


CHAPTER  XVIII 


"3n  {Unappreciated  Cppe" 

Perhaps  no  more  just  appreciation  of  the  work  of  Mr. 
Payne  in  public  life  can  be  given  than  that  presented  in 
the  following  editorial  entitled, "An  Unappreciated  Type/' 
in  the  Minneapolis  Tribune  of  October  6,  1904: 

A  life  of  modest  usefulness  to  his  countrymen  ended  with  the 
death  of  Henry  C.  Payne.  He  had  no  inclination,  perhaps  no  fitness, 
for  the  higher  work  of  constructive  statesmanship  that  has  occupied 
his  lifelong  fellow  worker,  Senator  Spooner.  He  was  content  with 
the  obscurer  work  of  party  and  administrative  management,  which 
has  rarely  been  done  with  more  constant  regard  to  the  general  good. 
He  was  not  a  self-seeker,  though  he  welcomed  the  reward  that  came 
at  last  to  a  lifetime  of  service. 

For  a  third  of  a  century  other  men  reaped  the  fruitage  of  public 
station  for  which  he  toiled  unremittingly  in  the  service  of  his  party. 
Among  these  men  are  some  whose  names  will  be  more  permanently 
connected  with  the  history  of  Wisconsin  and  the  country  than  his 
own.  Before  he  is  forgotten  he  should  receive  just  recognition  for 
his  part  in  creating  their  opportunity  for  gaining  personal  fame  and 
doing  public  service. 

Mr.  Payne,  like  Senator  Hanna,  belonged  to  an  unappreciated 
type.  The  politician  is  a  necessary  agent  in  the  public  life  of  a  free 
country.  The  lower  rewards  of  the  service  often  tempt  unworthy 
men  into  it.  They  who  despise  these  lower  rewards,  as  Mr.  Payne 
did,  must  be  content  with  scant  recognition  from  contemporaries 
and  brief  remembrance  by  posterity.  All  the  more  reason  for  doing 
them  justice  while  they  live  and  when  they  die. 

Mr.  Payne  was  a  politician  because  he  liked  to  play  the  game 
and  to  succeed  in  it.  If  not  the  highest  ambition,  it  is  an  honorable 
one.  He  did  not  make  politics  a  profession.  He  did  not  enrich 
himself  in  it.  He  carried  the  double  burden  of  large  private  affairs 
and  unpaid  service  to  the  country  in  the  form  of  service  to  the  party 
he  believed  in.  Party  is  necessary  in  Republican  government,  and 
this  service,  when  highly  and  unselfishly  done,  is  as  honorable,  al 
though  not  so  glorious,  as  making  laws  and  ruling  nations. 


176  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 

Because  the  foregoing  article  has  made  prominent  the 
career  of  Mr.  Payne  as  a  politician  I  have  reserved  for 
this  position  an  estimate  of  his  political  life  from  the  pen 
and  heart  of  Mr.  James  S.  Clarkson,  surveyor  of  the  port 
of  New  York,  at  one  time  chairman  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee: 

As  I  now  remember  it,  I  became  well  acquainted  with  Henry 
Payne  in  1876,  and  at  the  Republican  National  Convention,  in  Cin 
cinnati,  in  that  year,  the  same  occasion  on  which  I  was  first  brought 
into  intimate  association  with  Senator  Platt,  of  New  York,  Governor 
Foraker,  of  Ohio,  Senator  Quay,  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Fessenden,  of 
Connecticut,  Mr.  Hobart,  of  New  Jersey,  General  Alger,  of  Michi 
gan,  and  other  great  spirits  with  whom  Mr.  Payne  and  I  afterwards, 
and  for  nearly  a  generation  of  active  politics,  became  so  closely  asso 
ciated  in  national  conventions  and  in  the  campaigns  of  the  National 
Committee  afterwards  and  in  strong  personal  friendships  as  well. 
In  that  year  Elaine's  star  was  rising  to  its  long-time  supremacy  in 
the  political  sky,  and  the  Republican  party's  leaders  were  dividing 
themselves  in  eager  rivalry  between  him  and  General  Grant — a 
division  which  lasted  for  nearly  a  generation  of  active  contests.  I  well 
remember  the  year  1876  as  the  beginning  of  many  conspicuous  and 
enduring  personal  friendships  between  large  groups  of  party  leaders ; 
and  it  will  always  be  left  to  me  to  remember  that  in  that  year  of 
great  party  events  and  the  development  of  so  many  great  party  lead 
ers  I  found  and  formed  the  most  grateful  friendships  and  the  dearest 
friends  that,  outside  of  kinsmen,  I  have  found  in  my  whole  life.  My 
experience  in  politics,  too,  bears  the  testimony  now  of  over  forty 
years  in  contradiction  of  the  popular  cynical  idea  that  politicians  are 
heartless  and  without  sentiment  and  that  political  friendships  are  all 
selfish  and  fleeting.  Instead,  I  have  had  personally  over  a  genera 
tion  of  continuing  proof  that  more  true  and  lasting  friendships  are 
formed  in  politics  than  in  any  other  profession,  or  in  any  other 
division  of  active  and  strenuous  men,  and  I  have  seen  more  sincere, 
unselfish,  and  sacrificing  friendship  and  devotion  shown  among  what 
are  flippantly  called  politicians  than  among  all  other  great  groups  of 
men  with  whom  in  the  business,  or  even  religious,  world  I  have  been 
brought  in  contact.  Indeed,  the  greater  riches  I  have  left  to  me  in 
life  now  are  the  vivid  and  grateful  memories  that  I  was  permitted  to 
know  in  intimate  and  unchanging  friendship  such  men  as  Mr.  Payne 
and  the  others  I  have  named,  and  many  more  like  them,  and  that 
our  friendship  for  and  faith  in  each  other  endured  in  loyalty  and 
growing  tenderness  and  devotion  for  over  thirty  years  and  never 


UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE"  177 


ended.  These  were  friendships  that  met  all  tests  that  intense  con 
flicts  bring  to  all  ambitious  and  militant  men,  only  to  grow  stronger, 
and  that  survived  all  the  rivalry,  jealousy,  and  greed  of  which  the 
world  of  politics  is  commonly  supposed  to  be  made  up ;  and  survived 
to  remain  almost  the  most  precious  things  in  the  lives  of  us  all. 
Therefore,  when  I  am  told  that  a  book  of  faithful  record  of  the  good 
life  and  good  works  of  Henry  Payne  is  to  be  printed,  and  that  I 
may  have  the  privilege  and  the  honor  of  being  among  those  per 
mitted  to  pay  him  their  final  tribute,  I  find  myself  wondering,  not 
what  I  can  say  of  estimate  of  him  and  his  usefulness  and  his  no 
bility,  but  what  of  the  many  things  to  be  said  in  his  praise  I  shall 
refer  to  in  this  short  space. 

Of  course,  I  knew  of  Mr.  Payne  as  early  as  1872,  as  a  rising  fac 
tor  in  western  politics,  because  of  his  growing  prominence  and  ac 
tivity  in  the  affairs  of  Wisconsin ;  and  had  met  him  incidentally 
several  times  in  Chicago,  and  once  or  twice  had  seen  him  at  Des 
Moines,  when  he  had  come  into  Iowa  on  political  or  business  er 
rands.  I  liked  him  from  the  first,  because  of  his  engaging  and  manly 
qualities,  and  found  in  him  a  kindred  spirit  of  earnest  Republicanism 
and  frank  personality.  Then  young  and  an  eager  student  of  politics, 
I  was  also  attracted  to  Mr.  Payne  because  he  was  a  Republican  from 
Wisconsin,  or  from  one  of  the  two  pioneer  states  in  Republicanism, 
or  one  of  the  two  states  that  had  elected  its  entire  Republican  state 
ticket  as  early  as  the  year  1854 — a  crown  of  honor  which  it  has  had 
to  share  with  only  one  other  state.  It  was  a  great  distinction 
in  those  days  to  be  a  Wisconsin  Republican ;  and  Mr.  Payne,  though 
then  still  in  his  twenties,  showed  the  inspired  enthusiasm  of  his  state 
and  already  was  eager  for  work  for  the  party  in  the  national  field. 
But  my  most  distinct  recollection  of  him  is  that  it  was  at  the  Cin 
cinnati  convention  that  I  came  into  intimacy  and  comradeship  with 
him,  and  also  with  Senator  Sawyer,  who  was  for  several  years  the 
sturdiest  and  most  popular  man  in  the  personnel  of  western  Repub 
licanism,  and  with  John  C.  Spooner,  who  was  even  then  revealing 
himself  to  the  party  and  the  nation  in  his  predestined  career;  and 
already  modestly  exhibiting,  as  opportunity  came,  the  rare  powers 
of  felicitous  oratory  and  unusual  legal  knowledge,  which  now  for 
several  years  have  been  proving  their  pre-eminent  usefulness  to  his 
party  and  his  country  in  his  admitted  position  as  the  leader  in  con 
stitutional  debate  and  Republican  defense  in  the  United  States  Sen 
ate,  and  in  which  he  has  fairly  won  the  title  to  rank  as  peer  with  the 
greatest  lawyers  in  the  whole  history  of  that  illustrious  body.  I 
call  Mr.  Sawyer  and  Mr.  Spooner  into  companionship  with  Mr. 
Payne  here  because  these  three  men  were  so  closely  associated  then 
and  ever  after,  as  long  as  they  all  lived,  that  I  have  never  heard  one 
of  them  mentioned  since  that  I  have  not  thought  of  them  all ;  and  let 


178  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 

me  say  it  here,  at  the  end  of  these  lengthened  years,  when  two  of 
them  are  gone,  always  with  admiration  and  affection  for  them,  and 
always  with  pride  that  I  was  honored  for  nearly  a  generation  with 
their  unquestioning  and  never-changing  friendship.  These  three 
men,  in  their  close  friendships  for  a  lifetime,  beautifully  illustrate 
the  claim  I  have  made  that  the  truest  and  strongest  friendships 
among  real  men  are  those  that  are  made  and  proved,  and  made  so 
unchanging  and  unchangeable  as  to  be  practically  immortal,  in  the 
storms  and  tests  and  cruelties  of  politics.  Where,  in  eastern  or 
western  state,  or  among  western  or  eastern  men,  in  any  profession 
or  any  division  of  men,  can  now  be  recalled  any  three  men  who  rep 
resented  in  their  devotion  to  each  other  and  in  their  greater  devotion 
to  their  state  and  their  nation,  the  devotion  that  was  shown  for  a 
generation  by  this  illustrious  trio  composed  of  Senator  Sawyer, 
Senator  Spooner  and  Henry  Payne?  If  you  confine  it  to  Wisconsin 
or  compare  it  and  Wisconsin  with  other  states  and  their  leaders, 
where  are  there  three  other  men  who  ever  worked  together  for  a 
whole  lifetime  with  the  great  devotion,  and  the  resulting  greatness 
in  achievement,  as  these  strong  and  splendid  men  worked  for  Wis 
consin?  If  the  expressive  phrase  of  athletics  could  be  properly  em 
ployed  for  description  of  such  great  service  in  statecraft  and  party 
devotion,  it  could  be  said  that  no  such  effective  team-work  has  ever 
been  done  for  any  state  as  these  three  masters  among  men — each 
superior  to  the  other  in  some  especial  strength  and  yet  all  supple 
menting  one  another  to  a  perfect  union  of  strength — so  loyally  did 
for  a  state  which  they  so  intensely  desired  to  serve.  No  one  who 
loves  Wisconsin,  and  no  one  of  any  community  who  loves  rare 
strength  and  fealty  in  men,  can  ever  in  the  future  fail  to  admire  and 
honor,  whether  separately  or  as  a  whole,  the  names  of  Senator 
Sawyer,  Senator  Spooner,  and  Postmaster-General  Payne. 

In  another  and  more  critical  sense,  too,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  attempt  to  give  accurately  and  in  anything  like  faithful  measure 
any  estimate  as  to  the  public  work  or  career  of  Mr.  Payne  without 
including  these  two  illustrious  men  in  the  discussion ;  for  in  the 
nation  at  large,  in  all  the  great  National  Conventions  of  the  party 
and  in  all  the  important  campaigns  waged  by  the  National  Com 
mittees  afterwards  with  which  I  had  personal  and  active  association, 
or  from  1876  to  1896,  they  were  always  together,  always  acting  in 
unison,  with  the  one  exception  of  1892,  when  Senator  Sawyer  was 
for  Harrison's  renomination  and  Mr.  Payne  was  for  Elaine — not 
against  Harrison  just  to  be  against  him,  but  because  he  believed, 
with  many  others  of  us  and  with  the  large  majority  of  the  experi 
enced  practical  leaders  of  the  party,  that  Elaine  was  the  only  man 
that  the  Republican  party  had  any  possible  chance  to  elect  in  that 
year.  It  is  also  to  increase  the  measurements  of  Mr.  Payne  as  a 


"A_N  UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE"  179 


political  leader,  to  bring  him  into  fellowship  and  contrast  with  two 
men  so  strong  and  great  as  Mr.  Sawyer  and  Mr.  Spooner,  for  in 
some,  and  in  some  of  the  most  important  respects — in  the  quantities 
or  the  mathematics  of  organization  and  operation  in  practical  politics, 
in  the  ability  to  organize  in  detail  with  the  largest  possible  certainty 
of  success,  in  the  gift  of  keeping  near  to  public  opinion  and  in  know 
ing  in  advance  the  issues  most  likely  to  win  in  the  country  at  large — 
he  was  the  superior  one  of  the  three,  just  as  he  was  in  late  years  and 
in  all  the  great  presidential  campaigns  one  of  the  two  or  three 
wisest  counsellors  of  the  National  Committees,  and  especially  as  he 
was  in  the  momentous  campaign  of  1896  not  only  the  superior  of 
Mr.  Hanna  in  knowing  what  to  do  to  win  and,  next,  in  himself 
making  the  organization  to  win,  but  the  more  fairly  and  fully  en 
titled  to  the  larger  credit  for  the  victory  itself. 

I  do  not  know  what  Mr.  Hanna  himself  said  or  felt  as  to  the 
transcendent  value  of  Mr.  Payne's  help  in  that  memorable  campaign, 
for  I  never  knew  Mr.  Hanna  well,  and  so  had  no  chance  to  know 
of  the  inner  thoughts  of  his  great  and  courageous  mind ;  but  I  shall 
always  believe  that  he  knew  the  great  and  saving  value  to  him  and 
to  the  party  in  that  campaign  of  Mr.  Payne's  consummate  mastery 
of  organization  in  detail ;  and  that  he  knew  also  that  in  perfecting 
this  organization  for  victory  Mr.  Payne  gave  his  health  and,  prac 
tically  his  life,  and  was  never  after  that  himself  again  either  in 
strength  or  in  spirit.  I  accept  as  proof  of  this  belief  of  mine,  Mr. 
Hanna's  earnest  appeals  to  President  McKinley — the  most  earnest 
of  all  his  appeals  to  his  Chief — to  recognize  Mr.  Payne's  great  and 
saving  work  for  the  party  by  granting  to  him  the  fulfillment  of  the 
darling  ambition  of  his  life  to  become  Postmaster-General.  Mr. 
Hanna  must  have  known — great  and  unequalled  as  was  his  own 
share  of  the  work  in  that  campaign,  in  organizing  sufficient  financial 
resources  to  make  victory  with  close  organization  not  only  possible 
but  sure — that  it  was  Mr.  Payne's  marvelous  skill  alone  that  gave 
the  close  organization,  and  therefore  the  victory.  Mr.  Hanna's 
actions  afterwards  are  confirmation  to  me  that  he  knew  this  to  be 
true;  and  it  was  commonly  known  that  Mr.  McKinley' s  strange 
refusal  to  give  Mr.  Payne  his  just  due  was  one  of  the  greater  dis 
appointments  of  Mr.  Hanna's  political  life,  as  it  is  also  known  that 
in  his  undying  gratitude  to  Payne  he  made  to  President  Roosevelt, 
when  opportunity  came,  the  same  appeal  he  had  made  in  vain  to 
McKinley,  and  found  in  Roosevelt's  favorable  action  very  much 
of  compensation  for  the  actual  sorrow  he  had  constantly  felt  over 
McKinley's  refusal.  I  believe,  too,  that  it  was  most  largely  Mr. 
Hanna's  gratitude  to  President  Roosevelt  for  paying  this  deserved 
but  delayed  honor  to  Mr.  Payne,  that  kept  him  in  1903  from  yielding 
to  the  appeals  of  his  own  friends  and  of  all  those  who  were  discon- 


180  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :    A  LIFE 


tented,  to  become  a  candidate  for  President  himself.  I  think  no  one 
knew  this  so  well  or  so  certainly  as  Mr.  Payne,  for  in  1903  and 
afterwards,  when  there  was  so  much  effort  to  induce  Mr.  Hanna  to 
be  a  candidate  against  Mr.  Roosevelt,  Mr.  Payne  constantly  asserted 
that  there  was  no  ground  whatever  for  this  belief  and  that  Mr. 
Hanna  was  instead  at  heart  for  Roosevelt.  Mr.  Payne  was  then  a 
trusted  and  political  confidant  of  the  President,  and  those  of  us  who 
knew  Henry  Payne  well  knew  that  he  was  stating  what  he  personally 
knew  to  be  true ;  for  all  of  us  knew  that  it  was  not  in  his  nature  to 
be  disloyal  to  the  President  or  to  sympathize  in  any  degree  with  the 
endeavor  then  being  made  to  make  Hanna  a  candidate  against 
Roosevelt. 

It  was  in  the  twelve  years  of  the  Republican  National  Com 
mittee  from  1884  to  1896,  or,  rather,  in  the  sixteen  years  from  1880 
to  1896,  that  I  learned  to  know  intimately  of  the  political  genius  and 
personal  nobility  of  Mr.  Payne.  He,  the  same  as  I,  was  always  con 
nected  with  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Committee 
and  all  its  activities  during  those  years.  It  was  during  this  time  in 
service  on  that  committee  that  there  developed  a  strong  group  of 
strenuous  men  who  early  became  and  always  remained  close  and 
devoted  friends.  Particularly  was  there  developed  a  very  earnest 
friendship  between  Mr.  Fessenden  of  Connecticut,  Mr.  Hobart  of 
New  Jersey,  Mr.  Payne  of  Wisconsin,  Mr.  Kerens  of  Missouri, 
Colonel  Goodloe  of  Kentucky,  General  Dudley  of  Indiana,  Colonel 
Conger  of  Ohio,  and  myself  from  Iowa;  and,  in  different  yet  equally 
earnest  degree,  Senator  Quay  of  Pennsylvania  and  Senator  Platt  of 
New  York ;  but  the  earliest,  closest  and  longest  friendship  was  that 
established  between  Mr.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Hobart,  Mr.  Payne  and  my 
self.  In  all  the  National  Conventions  and  campaigns  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  from  1876  to  1896  the  four  of  us  worked  closely  together, 
and  always  in  loyalty  and  affection  for  the  party  and  for  one  an 
other.  In  the  four  conventions  and  campaigns  of  1880,  1884,  1888 
and  1892,  four  men  could  never  have  been  more  intimate  or  worked 
more  closely  together  in  common  endeavor  for  the  party  and  in 
loyal  support  of  one  another,  so  far  as  personality  was  concerned, 
than  these  four  men  worked  in  these  four  great  national  contests. 
It  was  in  these  campaigns  and  conventions,  and  in  the  many  con 
ferences  of  great  party  leaders  incident  to  the  activities  of  the  party 
in  these  twenty  years,  that  I  frequently  saw  the  ability  and  the  value 
of  Mr.  Payne  as  a  political  leader  and  counsellor  fully  tested  and 
as  often  fully  proved. 

During  all  that  period  and  for  the  two  campaigns  following — 
those  of  1896  and  1900,  when  I  was  no  longer  a  member  of  the  com 
mittee — his  counsel  was  as  much  sought  in  the  National  Conventions 
and  in  the  national  campaigns  and  as  much  depended  upon  as  that  of 


"AN  UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE"  181 


any  leader  in  the  party.  Whether  in  party  conferences,  that  in 
cluded  Mr.  Elaine  in  the  campaigns  of  1884  and  1888,  and  General 
Logan,  General  Harrison,  Senator  Allison,  Senator  Hoar,  Governor 
Foraker  and  many  other  noted  leaders,  or  in  National  Committee 
conferences  with  Senator  Quay,  Senator  Platt  and  the  leading  mem 
bers  of  the  National  Executive  Committees,  or  in  conferences  be 
tween  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  National  Committee  and 
noted  business  men  and  financiers  of  the  country — all  conferences  of 
great  importance,  and  some  of  them  history-making  in  their  pecu 
liarly  great  importance  and  in  their  resulting  influence  on  national 
action — in  any  and  all  of  these  conferences  he  was  a  prominent  and 
influential  spirit.  No  leader  in  the  Republican  party  held  the  con 
fidence  and  affection  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  during  those 
years  more  largely  than  he  did.  No  other  party  leader  was  more  in 
fluential  with  all  the  party  leaders  than  he  was  in  that  period,  and 
very  few  of  the  party  leaders  commanded  as  fully  as  he  did  the  con 
fidence  of  the  great  business  and  financial  interests  of  the  country; 
for  he  had  won  as  fine  a  reputation  for  strength  and  safety  in  the 
business  as  in  the  political  world.  These  great  qualities  made  him 
a  leader  whose  counsel  the  party  often  sought,  and  never  in  vain. 
There  was  that  in  his  nature  which  caused  all  men  of  discernment 
brought  in  close  contact  with  him  to  see  and  know  the  sincerity  of 
his  life,  the  manliness  of  his  character,  the  clearness  of  his  vision, 
and  the  superior  stability  and  sanity  of  his  judgment.  He  was  broad 
and  strong  and  firm  in  all  things,  always  amiable  and  never  intoler 
ant,  a  counsellor  to  be  trusted,  a  leader  to  be  valued,  a  man  to  be 
loved.  This  was  what  those  of  us  who  served  with  him  so  many 
years  in  the  executive  work  of  the  National  Committee,  and  saw 
him  under  many  heavy  tests,  any  one  of  which  would  have  carried 
down  any  leader  not  strong  and  true,  early  learned  to  know  of  him ; 
and  every  day  and  year  that  followed  our  first  acquaintance  with 
him  served  but  to  increase  our  admiration  for  him  as  a  leader  and 
our  love  for  him  as  a  man.  I  could  write  a  whole  book  full  in 
telling  of  scenes  and  incidents  in  National  Conventions  and  cam 
paigns,  and  in  important  events  in  the  party  in  the  intervals,  in 
which  I  have  seen  Mr.  Payne  bear  a  great  and  controlling  part. 
He  had  a  personal  acquaintance  in  the  party  as  wide  as  the  country, 
and  wherever  he  had  an  acquaintance  in  the  party  he  had  a  personal 
friend.  This  fact,  in  addition  to  his  rare  ability  as  a  counsellor  and 
organizer  and  his  high  standing  in  all  party  councils,  always  made 
him  a  great  and  influential  factor  in  all  party  conferences  or  con 
ventions.  These  high  credentials  of  personal  power  on  the  part  of 
Mr.  Payne,  and  his  unity  with  Senator  Sawyer  and  Senator  Spooner, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Wisconsin  delegation  was  one  of  the  delegations 
in  National  Conventions  that  always  knew  its  own  mind  and  had  the 


182  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:    A  LIFE 

courage  to  follow  it  and  always  acted  as  a  unit,  several  times  made 
that  state  the  leader  in  deciding  the  party  nominee  for  President. 
This  was  particularly  true  as  to  the  selection  of  Garfield  in  1880, 
of  Harrison  in  1888,  as  it  had  been  also  largely  true  of  the  choice 
of  Elaine  in  1884,  and  as  happened  again  in  the  choice  of  McKinley 
in  1896.  In  1892,  Mr.  Payne,  for  the  first  time,  was  separated  from 
the  other  great  leaders  of  his  own  state,  as  I  have  already  men 
tioned,  and  even  in  that,  the  after  result  of  party  defeat  following 
the  choice  made  but  confirmed  his  wisdom  and  prescience  as  a  pol 
itical  leader  in  knowing  the  relative  strength  of  men  as  candidates, 
and  in  knowing,  also,  the  certain  and  inevitable  drift  of  public  opinion. 
In  that  convention,  too,  I  saw  signal  confirmation  of  his  devotion  to 
party  interest  rather  than  to  his  own  personal  ambitions ;  for,  al 
though  it  is  popularly  supposed  and  now  historically  accepted,  that 
Hanna's  first  attempt  for  McKinley  for  President  was  not  made 
until  1896,  many  of  us  personally  know  that  instead  his  first  effort 
was  made  at  Minneapolis  in  1892,  and  made  with  McKinley's  full 
knowledge  and  consent,  and  made  in  very  active  manner.  I  was 
asked  by  Mr.  Hanna  to  go  as  the  Chairman  of  the  National  Com 
mittee  with  Mr.  Fessenden  and  Mr.  Payne  to  see  Mr.  McKinley. 
We  met  the  great  figure  of  1896  and  1900  in  a  room  on  the  top  floor 
of  the  West  Hotel,  where  direct  proposals  were  made  to  us  for  a 
swing  from  Mr.  Elaine  to  Mr.  McKinley,  and  two  Cabinet  places 
offered  to  our  little  party  of  three — and  one  of  them  to  Mr.  Payne. 
It  made  no  impression  on  him,  and  had  no  part  in  changing  his 
opinion  that  Mr.  Elaine  alone  among  Republicans  stood  any  chance 
of  election  as  President  in  that  year.  In  this  instance  he  merely 
followed  the  loyal  and  generous  habit  of  his  whole  life  as  a  Re 
publican,  or  the  habit  of  always  putting  the  party's  interest  above 
his  own  interest  or  ambition. 

I  could  give  hundreds  of  other  incidents  connected  with  Mr. 
Payne  in  national  politics  and  in  proof  of  his  devoted  service  to  the 
Republican  party  which  would  bear  the  same  testimony  as  this  one  I 
have  recalled.  Indeed,  it  was  this  generous  disposition  to  sacrifice 
himself  for  his  party  and  to  sacrifice  self  for  friends,  that  made  us 
all  who  were  brought  into  the  intimacies  of  many  important  years 
and  events  with  him  learn  to  love  him  at  the  start  and  to  increase 
the  affection  with  each  passing  year.  He  had  that  rarest  and  best 
quality  in  all  men — that  mingling  of  strength  and  tenderness  which 
makes  at  once  the  strongest  and  most  lovable  of  men.  All  people 
brought  near  to  him  always  felt  this  gentleness  of  his  nature  as 
much  as  they  felt  his  great  strength  and  force.  It  was  this  com 
bination  of  things  most  loved  in  all  men  that  brought  to  Mr.  Payne 
the  greatest  and  proudest  friendship  of  his  life ;  and  secured  for 
him,  unsolicited,  the  high  favor  of  President  Roosevelt's  recogni- 


"AN  UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE"  183 

tion  and  approval.  It  was  my  fortune,  in  1902  and  1903  and  early 
in  1904,  to  be  brought  several  times  into  close  conference  with  the 
President  and  Mr.  Payne  in  Washington,  on  matters  concerning  the 
welfare  of  the  Republican  party.  It  was  a  joy  to  me,  who  knew 
Mr.  Payne  so  well,  to  see  how  completely  the  President  gave  him 
his  confidence  and  his  affection.  I  can  never  forget  how  at  one  con 
ference,  ending  so  late  in  the  night  as  to  be  early  in  the  morning, 
which  had  dealt  with  many  practical  and  quite  vexing  questions  in 
politics,  and  in  which  Mr.  Payne  had  shown  his  genius  in  political 
leadership,  the  President  put  his  arm  about  him  and  brought  him 
toward  me  and  said,  "Harry  Payne  has  been  of  more  comfort  and 
more  help  to  me  than  any  man  has  been  since  I  have  been  President." 
It  was  a  tribute,  coming  from  such  a  source,  that  was  worth  living  a 
whole  lifetime  to  receive.  I  had  never  before  heard  Mr.  Payne 
called  "Harry,"*  for  we  who  had  been  so  close  to  him  and  his  heart 
for  many  years  had  always  called  him  "Henry  Payne,"  almost  as  if  it 
were  his  whole  surname ;  but  I  felt  the  thrill  of  the  great  affection 
that  sought  a  title  which  had  in  it  something  of  a  caress  and  in 
timate  nearness.  Just  as  this  greatest  of  all  Americans  of  the  past 
or  the  present,  as  I  believe,  and  as  I  believe  time  will  confirm,  saw 
the  rare  strength  and  the  equally  rare  gentleness  of  Henry  Payne, 
and  loved  him  for  both,  so  did  all  people  who  ever  came  close  to 
him  see  and  love  him  for  the  same  rare  and  noble  qualities. 

There  was  in  this  fine  friend  of  ours  as  a  man,  in  a  peculiar  and 
noble  degree,  that  which  made  him  in  his  whole  journey  through 
like  a  friend  to  every  one  who  deserved  his  friendship,  and,  in  his 
kindliness  and  generosity,  to  many  who  did  not  deserve  it — for  in 
the  wide  and  instant  sympathy  of  his  nature  no  fellow-being  in  need 
ever  was  alien  to  him.  Therefore,  memory  of  him,  and  affection  for 
him  will  remain,  and  remain  to  increase  as  the  years  shall  pass,  and 
as  all  men  shall  come  more  and  more  to  love  most  of  all  in  every 
human  being  modesty,  honor  and  sincerity. 

Mr.  Payne  was  familiarly  known  in  Washington  as 
"the  politician  of  the  cabinet."  In  no  offensive  sense  was 
this  term  used;  in  no  offensive  sense  was  it  true.  If  it 
meant  that  in  a  city  boiling  with  politics  and  overrun  with 
politicians  he  was  familiar  writh  all  the  intricacies  of  the 
craft,  could  act  as  a  foil  upon  the  schemes  of  the  design- 


*Harry    was    also    the    familiar    designation    used    by    Senator 
Hanna  and  by  Senator  Scott,  of  West  Virginia. 


184  HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 

ing,  the  unpatriotic  and  the  unprincipled,  and  at  the  same 
time  could  put  in  motion  the  machinery  to  advance  and  to 
perpetuate  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party  while 
not  neglecting  the  duties  of  the  office  which  he  had  taken 
oath  to  perform,  then  the  term  politician  properly  de 
scribes  Henry  C.  Payne.  But  this  term  does  not  accord 
him  the  praise  which  is  his  full  due — the  praise  belonging 
to  the  man  who  dies  doing  his  duty.  The  closing  years 
of  Mr.  Payne's  life,  while  they  brought  him  great  honor, 
brought  him  also  an  exacting  routine,  unrequited  toil,  un 
merited  criticism,  days  full  of  worry,  nights  pillowed  with 
thorns.  All  these,  heroically,  unflinchingly,  uncomplain 
ingly,  he  endured.  What  had  become  the  rugged  path  of 
duty  he  manfully  walked  until  he  could  tread  it  no  longer. 
Then,  his  body,  enfeebled  by  disease  and  stricken  with 
death,  was  tenderly  laid  to  rest  in  its  tomb. 

These  pages  have  lacked  their  office  if  they  have  not 
enabled  the  reader  to  appreciate  the  character  of  Mr. 
Payne  as  conspicuous  in  his  public  career.  In  his  private 
life  there  abode  many  virtues.  The  cartoonists,  who  de 
lighted  to  sketch  him  cigar  in  mouth,  knew  not  that  he 
never  smoked.  In  eating  and  in  drinking  he  was  strictly 
temperate.  Very  seldom  the  profane  word  escaped  his 
lips ;  never,  the  doubtful  word  or  tale.  No  man  was  more 
amiable,  more  companionable,  more  beloved.  No  visitor, 
beseeching  a  favor,  sought  him  in  vain.  No  one  en 
countering  him  in  the  thickest  perplexities  of  business, 
saw  a  sorry  visage,  a  ruffled  temper,  a  sour  disposition. 
Happy  himself  he  perfumed  happiness  about  him.  The 
songs  he  so  buoyantly  sang  in  his  childhood  echoed  their 
carol  through  all  his  busy  years  and  softly  ebbed  away 
their  sweetness  with  his  dying  breath. 


UNAPPRECIATED  TYPE''"  185 


The  inscription  for  his  monument,  prepared  at  Mrs. 
Payne's  request  by  her  husband's  long-time  friend,  Judge 
James  G.  Jenkins,  is  thus  conceived  : 


In  IKemonj 

OF 

HENRY  C.  PAYNE 


Sometime  Postmaster-General 
of  the  United  States 


lorn  Jfotomfor  23,  1043 
4,  10H4 


An  able  Executive 

A  public-spirited  Citizen 

A  kindly  Neighbor 

A  loyal  Friend 

A  Benefactor  of  the  Deserving 


'After  lifr'a  fitful  fotmr  fj£  steeps 


Jnfces 


Alger,  Russell  A 176 

Allison,   William  B 181 

Allowances    for    Separating    Pur 
poses  143 

"Amended  List"    149 

American    Street    Railway    Asso 
ciation    53 

Ames,  Eliza  Etta,  mother 3 

Character  and  death 4 

Ames,   Samuel,  ancestor 3 

Amherst    164 

Amusements,  interest  in 13 

Anson,   Frank  A 100 

Arthur,  Chester  A 27 

Commissions  Postmaster 27 

Arthur,  Peter  M 85 

Ashfield,  described  2 

Removal  from  3 

Recollections   of 3 

Last  visit  to 163 

Austin,  William  H loo 

Babcock,  Joseph  W.,  tribute  by. . .  89 
And       "charges        concerning 

members"   153 

Badger  Illuminating  Company.  ...   58 

Baker,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edwin 163 

Band  of  Hope 6 

Baptist  Church,  Shelburne  Falls..     6 

Baptist  Corners 2 

Barbieri,  Marie  168 

Barrett,  Harrison  J 127,  132 

Bass,  Hannah,  ancestor i 

Bass,  Samuel,  descendants  of I 

Baxter,  Charles  H ioo 

Bean,  Irving  M 24 

Dinner  to  35 

At  funeral 173 

Beavers,    George    W.,    resignation 

of 126 

Trial  of 132 

Charges  concerning  143 

Becker,  Washington  56 

Beggs,  John  I.. .63,  69,  173 

And  the  Public  Service  Build 
ing  64 

Bell  Telephone  Company 50 

Bennett  Law  86,  87 

Bennett,  Michael  J 86 

Bigelow,  Frank  G 50,  54,  173 


Billings,  Anna,  ancestor 2 

Bingham,  Theodore  A 54 

Bissell,  Wilson  S 118 

Elaine,  James  G 

43,  47,  176,  178,  181,  182 

Bleeker  and  Van  Dyke 20 

Blind,  provision    for    the,    in    the 

mails   116 

Board   of   Fire   and    Police    Com 
missioners  33,  34,  45 

Bonaparte,    Charles    J.,    and    post 

office  investigation..  .  130,  131 

Bowen,  Alfred 5 

Bowen,  Diana  S.,  teacher 4,  5,  17 

Attachment     between     Henry 

and   5 

Journey  with   163 

Boycott  and  strike 61,  74,  75,  77 

Bradley,  William  H 48,  56 

Braintree   • i 

Brewer,  David  J 84 

Bribery  charged,   as   to   extension 

of  railway  franchises.  .70,  72 
As   to   re-election   of   Senator 

Spooner    99 

Brigham,  Jerome  R 34,  46 

Bristow,  Joseph  L 114 

To      investigate      post      office 

frauds 124,  126 

Instructions    from  Mr.  Payne, 

received  by  125 

And  the  Tulloch  charges.  128,  129 

Letter  of,  to  Mr.  Payne 133 

Tribute  by  140 

Correspondence    with     House 

Committee    147 

Britt,  Oren  E 56 

Brodhead,  Edward  H 50 

Bromwell,  Jacob  H.,  and  the  post 

office  investigation..  .  123,  134 

Brown,  Henry  B 84 

Brown,  Horace  M 173 

Brown,  Thomas  H 43 

Bryan,  William  J 89 

His  vote  in  1900 113 

"Bryan's   Fallacies"    91 

Buckstaff,  George  A ioo 

Burlington,  Byron  A ioo 

Bullard,   Silas   ioo 


188 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 


Cabinet  position,  mentioned  for. .  .  90 

Appointed  to  a 1 14 

Rumors  of  withdrawal  from..  135 
Mr.  McKinley  refuses,  to  Mr. 

Payne .91,  179 

Mr.    Payne    as    politician    of 

the  Cabinet 183 

Cameron,  Angus,  Senator 26,  37 

Cameron,  Winfield  S 3,  162 

Visit  to    162 

Campaigning  as  a  science 43 

Cannon,  Joseph  G.,  tribute  by....  159 
Carpenter,  Matthew  H.,  Senator..  25 
Defeat  for  re-election  and  re 
sult    26 

Gary,  Alfred  L.,  tribute  by 22 

At   funeral 173 

Castle,  Henry  A 130 

Central      Committee,      Republican 

party  42 

Central  Republican   Club 40 

Central  Trust  Company 58,  65 

Charges    concerning    members    of 

Congress   142,   149,  151 

Charlemont    163 

Chicago  and  Calumet  Railroad...  84 
Chicago  and  Northern  Pacific  Rail 
road    84 

Chicago  Herald,  as  to  gold  plank.  97 
Civil   Service,   in  Milwaukee   Post 

Office   31,  32 

In  city  of  Milwaukee 34,  45 

As  Postmaster-General.  .  .34,  119 

Clark,  Mrs.  Elihu n 

Clark,  Lucius,   employer 10 

Clark,  William  and  Company 10 

Clarkson,  James  S.,  tribute  by....  176 

Clayton,  Powell,  tribute  by 159 

Cleveland,  Grover,  removes  Post 
master   Payne 27,  47 

Candidate  for  President.  .  .86,  88 
Collins,  Wallace  G.,  tribute  by.  ...  48 
Committee  on  the  Post  Office  and 

Post  Roads 142,  143,  154 

Company    H,    loth  Massachusetts 

regiment 10,  163,  165 

Congressmen,  charges  concerning  142 

Conger,  Arthur  L 180 

Conrad,    Holmes,    and    post    office 

investigation    130,    131 

Conway  163 

Cooley,  Alford  W,  on  Mr.  Payne 

and  civil  service 119 

Cooper,  Henry  A.,  as  to  "charges 

against    members" 153 


Cortelyou,  George  B.,  tribute  by.  .118 

Chairman    of    National  Com 
mittee    161 

Coxey  and   Coxeyites 83 

Cream  City  Railroad  Company...   56 
Crombie,  William  H.,  partner....    19 

Cromwell,  William  N 59,  69 

Cullom,   Shelby  M in 

Davidson,  James  O TOO 

Davidson,  Randall  T.,  archbishop  165 

Davis,    Charles    W 100 

Davis,    DeWitt 24 

Death  of  Mr.  Payne 168 

Deerfield   164 

Dennett,  Fred  A 100 

Devos,  William  H 100 

Dewey,  George,  at  funeral 171 

Dinner  at  Milwaukee  Club 35 

Doherty,    Michael 165 

Dover,    Elmer 174 

Drafting  into  Army n 

Dudley,  William  W 180 

Dunlap,  Rev.  E.  Slater 168,  171 

Durand,  Loyal  R 23 

Dyer,   Charles   E 173,   174 

Dyer,  George 52 

Earling,  Albert  J 162,  169,  172 

Edison  Electric  Illuminating  Com 
pany    58 

Edison  General  Electric  Company  63 

Eldred,  John  E. 23 

Elections,  early  interest  in 6,  23 

How  to  win 36,  43 

Electricity  as  motive  power.  . .  .57,  59 

Ellsworth,  Lemuel 24 

Elmer,  Laura,  ancestor 3 

Employes,  kindness  towards.  .....   59 

Enlistment,    letter    urging 10 

His  own,  refused 10,  163 

Epitaph    185 

Erie  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Co.  51 

Erwin,  James   W. 132 

Evening  Wisconsin 29,  43 

Ewing,  John  M 24 

Extension    of   franchise    of    street 

railways    68 

Benefits  of 71 

Fares  on  street  railway,  reduction 

of  64,  66,  68 

Obligatory  four  cent 71 

Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Co 80 

Fearing,  A.  G 9 

Fessenden,  Samuel 176,  180,  182 

Field,  Charles,  friend n 

Field,  Stephen  J 84 


INDEX 


189 


Fink,    Henry 24 

First  National  Bank,  director  of.  .  52 

Fisher,    Charles   T 100 

Fiagg,  Abner  S 100 

Fogo,  W:lliam  M 100 

Foraker,  Joseph  B 97,  176,  181 

Forest  Home  Cemetery 174 

Four  cent  fares 64,  71 

Fowler,  Daniel  W 29 

Fox  River  Valley  Electric  Railway 

Co 53 

Franchises,    litigation    as    to   non- 
user    of 66 

And  as  to  extension  of 68,  71 

Franklin   Academy 5 

Friendships  in  Politics 180 

Froehlich,  William  H 100 

Fuller,  Melville  W 114 

Fuller,   Oliver   C 173 

Funeral   at  Washington 171 

In  Milwaukee 173 

Garfield,  James  A.,  nominated  for 

president 43,    182 

Election  of 43 

Geilfuss,  Albert  B 42 

Gittings,  Mehetable,  ancestor 2 

Gold  plank  in  St.  Louis  platform, 

91,  92,  93,  94,  95 

Mr.  Payne's  history  of 96 

Goodloe,   William    C 180 

Governor,   election   for 40 

Ludington  and  Taylor 40 

Smith   and   Mallory 42 

Smith   and  Jenkins A.2 

Peck  and  Hoard 87 

Peck  and   Spooner 87 

Grant,  Ulysses  S 25 

Commissions    postmaster 27 

Gray.    Elisha 49 

Gray,  Rev.  E.  H 6 

Grayson,  Gary  T.,  M.  D.  .166,  168,  172 

Greenfield    164 

Gregory,  John  G 19 

Gresham,  Walter  Q 27 

Griggs,  John   W 130 

Guenther,    Richard 3n 

Hall,  Albert  R 101 

Halsey.   Lawrence   W 69 

Hanna,  Marcus  A.  .88,  92,  93,  95,  96, 
97,  112,  175,  183 

Death    of 160 

And  Cabinet  position  for  Mr. 

Payne   179.  180,  182 

Harlan,  John  M 84 

Harrison,  Benjamin.  .86,  178,  181,  182 
Haskins,  Charles  H 50 


Hatfield  164 

Hay,  James 143 

Hay,  John,  tribute  by 157 

Hay  resolution 143,   149,   150 

Hayes,    Rutherford    B.,    Commis 
sions  postmaster 27 

Race  for  presidency 41 

Heath,  Perry  S 130 

Herrick,  Myron  T 93,  95,  96,  97 

Tribute  by 97 

Hill,    Robert 23,   24 

Hinckley,   F.    E 56 

Hitchcock,  Ethan  A.,  tribute  by..  159 

At   funeral 172 

Hoar,  George  F 181 

Hoard,  William  D 86,  87 

Hobart,  Garrett  A 176,  180 

Hogan,    '"General" 83 

Honesty  in  politics 44 

Hoosac    Mountain 163 

"Hot  air"  statement.  129,  130,  131,  135 

Howe,  James  H 37 

Howe,  Timothy  O.,  Senator 25 

Tenders  Milwaukee  post  office  26 

Hurd,  Frank  E 101 

Hurlbut,   William   H 101 

Husband  and  wife,  not  both  to  be 

in  office 116 

Indianapolis  Monetary  Convention  54 
Injunctions     in     Northern    Pacific 

receivership    81 

Investigation    of    Post    Office    De 
partment    123 

Results  and  close  of 133,  134 

Jamestown,  New  York,  visit  to.      162 

Post  office  at 162 

Jenkins,  James  G.,  tribute  by 14 

Mentioned  23,  42,  80,  85 

As  judge  in  Northern  Pacific 
case   80 

Injunctions    by,    in    Northern 
Pacific    case 81 

At   funeral 173 

Writes    epitaph 185 

Jensen,   Andrew 101 

Jewell,   Marshall 27 

Johnson,  Jerome   B 29 

Johnson,  William  M 114 

Jones,  Mrs.  Charles  P 20 

Jones,  David  F 101 

Jones,  Miss  Louise 161,  172 

Jones,    William    A 101 

Kansas  Republicans  for  Mr.  Payne 

for  the   Cabinet 91 

Kendrick.  John  W 84,  85 

Kerens,  Richard  C 180 


190 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


Key,  David  M 27 

Keyes,   Elisha  W 174 

Knox,  Philander  C 117,  127 

Kohlsaat,  Herman  H.  .92,  93,  94,  95 

96,  97 

La  Follette,  Robert  M 170 

Lake  Park,  Milwaukee,  gift  to  or 
nament    54 

Lamoreux,  Clarence  A 101 

Leases  of    buildings    by  congress 
men   143 

Letter  boxes  on  street  cars 117 

Letter  carriers 32 

Lewis,  William  T 101 

Lions,  stone,  gift  to  Milwaukee  of  54 

Liquor  traffic,  regulation 45 

Litigation  over  street  railway  fares  65 
Over  non-user  of  franchises..  66 
As  to  extension  of  franchises.  69 
As    to    Northern    Pacific   re 
ceivership    79 

"Little  Red  Schoolhouse" 87 

Lockwood,  John 17 

Lodge,  Henry  C 95 

Logan,  John  A 181 

Lotteries  and  the  mails 116 

Loud,  Eugene  F 123 

And  the  post  office  investiga 
tion    124 

Letter  of,  as  to  the  investiga 
tion    134 

Lowry,  Israel  H . 57 

Ludingtori,   Harrison 40,  41 

Lynde,   William   P 40 

Lyon,  Mary 2 

Machen,  August  W 131,  135,  14° 

Madden,  Edwin  C 114 

Magruder,  G.  Lloyd 166,  168,  172 

Mail  matter  of  certain  classes,  con 
solidation    of 116 

Mailer,  Andrew  C 101 

Mailing  tubes   systems   installed.  .117 
Mails,    overcrowding   with  second 

class    matter 116 

Malaby,  Theodore 20 

Mallory,  Amarylis,  ancestor 3 

Mallory,   James   A 42 

Manley,  Joseph  H 112 

Letter  of  tribute  from 160 

Manschot,  John  H 42 

Mason,  William  L 57 

Tribute  by 73 

At  death  bed  of  Mr.  Payne. .  .168 

Maynard,  Austin  S.,  friend 7»  IO 

Maynard,  Charles  A.,  friend 6,  7 

Letter  to,  urging  enlistment..   10 


Maynard,  Eliza  I . 163 

McCall,   Samuel  W 154 

McGarigle,  George  A 29 

McGillivray,  James  J 101 

McGregor,    Thomas    W 132 

McKinley,   William 

89,  92,  93,  94,  95,  96,  97 

Tenders   foreign  mission 91 

In  campaign  of  1900 107 

Nominated  for  president,  1900, 

1 10,  182 

Elected    112 

Death    113 

Refuses     Cabinet    position    to 

Mr.   Payne 91,  179 

McKinley   National  Memorial  As 
sociation   54 

McLeod,  John  D 50,  173 

Tribute   by 51 

Mehan,    William 165 

Members     of     Congress,     charges 

concerning    142 

Merriam,  William  R.  ..  .92,  93,  96,  97 

Tribute  by 94 

Merriman,   Charles   W 101 

Merritt,  John  A 127,  130 

And  the  Tulloch  charges 128 

Metcalf,  Victor  H.,  tribute  by 158 

At  funeral 172,   173 

Michener,  Louis  T 127 

Miller,  Benjamin  K 50 

Miller,   Benjamin  K.,  Jr 69 

Miller,  George   P 173 

Milwaukee,  early  reference  to.  ...    16 

Description  of 17 

Democratic    24 

To  be  made  Republican.  .  .25,  40 

Accomplished    43,  44 

Street  railways  in 56 

Mr.  Payne's  last  visit  to 161 

Milwaukee     and     Northern    Rail 
road  Co.,  officer  of 52 

Milwaukee  and  Wauwatosa  Motor 

Railway   Co 58 

Milwaukee  City  Railroad  Company  56 

Milwaukee   Club  dinner 35 

Milwaukee-Downer    College,    gift 

to    54 

Milwaukee  Electric  Railway  Com 
pany    . 56 

Milwaukee    Electric    Railway    and 

Light  Company,  The.  .58,  78 
Milwaukee    Gas    Light    Company, 

director  of 52 

Milwaukee  Journal 109 


INDEX 


191 


Milwaukee     Sentinel,     upon     Mr. 

Whitney    167 

Milwaukee  Street  Railway  Com 
pany 57,  58 

Milwaukee  Telephone  Co 50 

Minneapolis  Tribune,  tribute  by..  175 

Minnesota  for  sound  money 94 

Minocqua,   interests   there 49 

Mitchell,   John   L 91 

Mobile  Weekly   Press   as  to  unequal 

representation    103 

Moody,  William  H.,  tribute  by...  137 

Morris,  Howard 173 

Morton,  Josiah  L.,  friend 16,  19 

Morton,  Paul,  tribute  by 158 

At  funeral 172,  173 

Mount  Holyoke,  dinner  there 16 

Mount  Tom 164 

Mulvane,  David  W 174 

Munson,  Oliver  G 101 

National    Republican     Committee, 

see  Republican 

National  Republican  Convention, 
see  Republican 

Nazro,  John 23 

Negroes  and  unequal  representa 
tion  103 

New,  Harry  S.,  tribute  by 89 

On  National  Committee 112 

At   funeral 174 

New  York,    selection    of  sites  for 

post  offices  in 117 

New  York  Evening  Post,  on 
Payne's  urging  of  Roose 
velt's  nomination in 

New  York  Press,  telegram  to,  as 
to  unequal  representa 
tion  102,  113 

New  York    Sun,    and  Elihu  Root 

for    vice-president ........  107 

New    York     Tribune    and  _  Elihu 

Root   for  vice-persident.  .  107 
On   Roosevelt   and  vice-presi 
dency   ....in 

And  the  "Amended  List"....  149 

Nicholson,    Isaac  L 55 

At   funeral 173 

North  Adams 16,  162 

North  American  Company 56,  57 

Northampton    9 

Last  visit  to 164 

North       Milwaukee       Investment 

Company   52 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Com 
pany  79,  80 


Injunctions  in  receivership  of  8l 

Raids  by  Coxeyites 83 

Nowell,  Winslow  A..i8,  24,  173,  174 

Oakes,  Thomas  F 80,  85 

Oakman,  Walter  G 56 

Old  Settlers'  Club,  Milwaukee...  53 

One  Hundred,  Committee  of 42 

O'Neil,  Edward 17 

Osborne,  William  M 96 

Osier,  William,   M.  D 166 

Overstreet,    Jesse,    correspondence 
between,    and    Mr.    Payne 

144,  145,  146,  147,  149 
Remarks  in  House  on  omitted 

letter    153 

Owen,  David  C 173 

Pabst,  Gustav  G 173 

Packard,   L.    M 5 

Page,  John  H 84 

Pain,  Paine,  see  Payne, 

Pall-bearers   173 

Panama,  post  offices  on  canal  zone 

at   116 

Parcels  post  conventions 115 

Parker,  Alton  B 85 

Patent  medicines  and  the  mails... 116 

Paul,   George  H 28 

Payne,  Frederick  W.,  brother... 4,  24 

Payne,  H.  C.  and  company 19 

Payne,  Henry  Clay,  birth 3 

School  in  Shelburne  Falls... 4,  5 
Early  interest  in  elections  and 

newspapers    6 

School  at  Powers  Institute...     7 

Youthful  character 8,  10 

In   Northampton 9 

Letter  urging  enlistment 10 

Interest  in  War  for  Union.  . .   10 

Unable  to  enlist n 

Dinner  to,  at  Mount  Holyoke.  16 
Removal  to  Milwaukee.  ..  .16,  17 

Early  business  there 18,  25 

Residences  there 19 

His  marriage 20 

A  republican  in  politics 24 

Desires    to    make    Milwaukee 

republican    25 

Success    43 

Tender     of     Milwaukee    post 

office 25,  26 

As   postmaster 27 

Removal  27,  28,  47 

Addresses  upon  leaving  office.  29 
Dinner  to,  at  Milwaukee  Club  35 
Milwaukee  made  republican.  .  40 


192 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE  :     A  LIFE 


Various  elections  participated 

in    41 

Secretary     of    Committee    of 

One   Hundred 42 

Secretary     of     State     Central 

Committee    42 

As  a  campaigner.  ..36,  43,  44,  45 
In  business  in  Northern  Wis 
consin    48 

In  telephone  business 50 

Officer  of  various  bodies 52 

Liberality   of 55 

Street  railways,  interest  in  56,  57 
As  receiver  of  street  railroad.  58 
As  officer  of  electric  road.  ...  59 
Responsibility  in  connection 

with  roads 59,  62 

His  management  of  strike.  ...  60 

Animosity   towards 62 

Selected     site     for     Terminal 

building   64 

Assists  litigation  against  reduc 
tion  of  fares 64 

And     against     forfeiture     of 

franchises   66 

And  concerning  franchise  ex 
tension   68 

As    receiver    of  Northern  Pa 
cific  Railroad  Company.  .   79 
Injunctions     obtained     in     re 
ceivership    81 

Resignation   as   receiver 85 

Delegate   in   1888  to   Republi 
can  National  Convention.  86 

Same  in  1892 87 

Same  in  1896 88 

Same  in  1900 109 

Urged  to  be  chairman  of  Na 
tional   Committee 88 

Declined,     and    became    vice- 
chairman   88 

Management   of   campaign   of 

1896    ..89 

Mentioned    for    Cabinet  posi 
tion    90,   91 

Tendered  a  foreign  mission.  .  91 
Mentioned  as  United  States 

Senator    91 

Insists  on  gold  plank  in  Saint 

Louis   platform 92 

His  version  of  history  of  the 

gold   plank 96 

Friendship         for          Senator 

Spooner   99 

And  unequal  representation  in 
conventions    .  .  .  101 


For  Elihu  Root  for  vice-presi 
dent  107 

For    Theodore    Roosevelt  for 

vice-president    108 

Roosevelt  protests  against  re 
moval  of,  from  National 

Committee  109 

Speech    by,     in    Philadelphia, 

1900  no 

Pressed    to    be    candidate  for 

vice-president    no 

Urges  Roosevelt  for  vice- 
presidency  at  Philadel 
phia  in 

Management    of    campaign    of 

1900    112 

Trip  to  Europe,  1901 1 13 

Failing  health.  ..113,  125,  152,  160 
Appointed       Postmaster-Gen 
eral    114 

Residence   in   Washington.  ...  114 
Reforms    by    as     Postmaster- 
General    115 

And  the  Spoils  system 119 

Investigation    of     Post    Office 

Department    123 

Trip  to  West  Indies 126,  137 

Attacked  as  opposed  to  inves 
tigation  126 

And  James  N.  Tyner.  ..  .125,  127 
And  the  Tulloch  charges.  ..  .128 
Letter  from  President  to,  on 

the    investigation 136 

And  charges  concerning  Con 
gressmen  142,  154 

Correspondence    of,    with  Mr. 
Overstreet    ....  144,   145,   146, 
147,  149 

Criticised   by   Congressmen.  ..  152 
Interview  of,  with  Mr.  Whit 
ney    153 

And  Select  Committee  on  Re 
lations  of  Members 154 

Trip  to  Galveston,  Texas....  155 
At  Republican  National  Con 
vention,    1904 161 

Gavel  presented  to 161 

Trip  to  Portland  and  Boston.  161 
Last  visit  to  New  England.  ..162 

His   last  illness 165 

His   last  words 167 

His  death 168 

Bulletin   of  death 168 

Proclamations  upon  death  of.  169 

Funeral    171 

As  a  politician 175 


INDEX 


193 


His  character  in  brief 184 

His    epitaph 185 

Payne,  Imogene,  sister . 3,  17 

Visit    to 162 

Jourrey    with 162 

Payne,  Joseph,  ancestor 2 

Payne,  Joseph  R.,  ancestor I,  2 

Payne,    Lydia    V.,  wife,  marriage 

and  early  illness 20 

Present  at  induction  into  Cab 
inet   114 

At  her  husband's  last  illness.  .167 

Payne,  Mary  Eliza,  sister 4 

Payne,  Moses,  ancestor I,  54 

Payne,  Orrin  P.,  father 3 

Character  and  death 4 

Payne,   Samuel,  ancestor I 

Payne,  Stephen,  ancestor I,  2,  54 

Peck,  George  R 174 

Peck,  George  W 87 

Peirce,  Charles  L 23,  24 

Peirce,    Clarence    E 101 

Pennsylvania  Historical   Society. .  53 

Perry,  R.   Ross 127 

Petley,  James 58 

Pfister,  Charles  F 50,  55,  69,  173 

Physicians  in  post  offices  abolished   116 

Pierce,  Solon  W 101 

Platt,  Thomas  C 95,  176,  180 

Politician,  Mr.  Payne  as  a  135,  141,  175 

"Politician  of  the  Cabinet" 183 

Portor,    Elijah 2 

Porter,  Mr.  and  Mrs 163 

Postage  stamp,  head  of  woman  on  116 
Identical    pieces    mailed  with 
out    116 

Postal    card,    unused,    redemption 

of,  when  soiled 116 

Postal  convention,  with  Cuba.... 1 15 

Postal    service 115 

Postmaster-General,  mentioned  for  90 

Appointment   as 114 

Improvements   by   Mr.    Payne 

as    115,   121 

Investigation  of  Department.  .123 

Postmaster    of    Milwaukee 27 

Removal  by  President  Cleve 
land    27,  47 

Post  Office,  Milwaukee 17 

Tendered  Mr.  Payne 25 

Retendered  and  accepted 26 

Under   Mr.    Payne 27 

Statistics  and  progress  of.  ...  28 
Farewell  addresses  upon  leav 
ing    29 


Placed    under     Civil     Service 

rules    33 

Post  Office,  Shelburne  Falls 5 

Post  Offices,  tone  of,  improved. .  .116 

Powers,  Edward  Epps 7 

Powers    Institute 7 

Pratt,  Edward  F.,  partner 18 

Presidential   conventions,   unequal 

representation    in IOI 

Presidential    election,    Grant    and 

Greeley 24,  25 

Hayes   and  Tilden 41 

Garfield  and  Hancock 43 

Cleveland  and  Elaine 47 

Harrison  and  Cleveland 86 

Cleveland   and   Harrison 87 

McKinley  and  Bryan 88,  89 

McKinley  and  Bryan,  1900.  . . 

IO7,   112 

Roosevelt  and  Fairbanks 161 

Procter,  John  R.,  on   Mr.   Payne 

and  civil  service 119 

And  the  Tulloch  charges 128 

Proctor,  Redfield 95,  96 

Tribute  by 93 

Public  Library,  Milwaukee. ..  .18,  23 

Public  Service  Building 64 

Putnam,   Henry  C 101 

Quarles,  Joseph  V 173 

Quay,  Matthew  S 105,  176,  180 

Ray,   Charles 50 

Ray,  George  H 101 

Receiver  of  Street  Railway 58 

Receiver  of  Northern  Pacific  Rail 
road    Company 79 

Resignation   as 85 

Representation,   unequal 101 

Republican    National    Committee, 

member  of... 44,  88,  112,  161 
Attempt  to  exclude  him  from 

88,  109 
Becomes  acting  chairman  of.  .160 

Chairman    161 

Republican     National     Convention 

in  1876 178,  180 

In  1880 43,  178,  180,  182 

In  1884 180,  182 

In  1888 86,  181,  182 

In  1892 87,  178,  182 

In  1896 88,  182 

In  1900 107,  109,  112 

In   1904 160,  161 

Review  of  Reviews,  as  to  unequal 

representation    105 

As  to  rural  free  delivery 115 

As  to  Mr.   Bristow 139 


194 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 


Reynolds,   John    F 101 

Rixey,  Presley  M.,  M.  D 166,  168 

Robb,  Charles  H.,  appointed  assis 
tant   Attorney-General.. . .  127 

Tribute  by 138 

Roehr,  Julius  E 101 

Roosevelt,   Theodore 53,   54 

For  vice-president 108 

Mr.  Payne  for 108 

Protests   against  Mr.    Payne's 
removal     from     National 

Committee .109 

Nomination  of,  for  vice-presi 
dent    in 

Becomes  president 113 

Appoints   Mr.    Payne  in  Cab 
inet  1 14,  180 

And     investigation     of     post 

office    124,    125 

Letter   of,   to   Mr.    Payne,   on 

the  investigation I 

At  Shelburne  Falls I 

And  last  illness  of  Mr.  Payne, 

166,  168 
Proclamation     by,      on      Mr. 

Payne's   death 169 

At  funeral 171 

And  Mr.  Payne  as  friends. .  .183 

Roosevelt,  Mrs.  Theodore 114 

And  last  illness  of  Mr.  Payne  166 

At   funeral 171 

Root,  Elihu,  for  vice-president.  .  .107 
At  National  Convention,  1904,  161 

Rose,  David  S 69 

Proclamation     by,     upon    Mr. 

Payne's   death 170 

Ross,  Worth  G 156,  161 

Tribute  by 156 

Rouse,   Henry  C 80,  85 

Runge,    Carl 69 

Rural  free  delivery  system 115 

Rusk,  Jeremiah  M 37 

Rutherford,    Gilbert 101 

Saint  Louis  platform  and  the  gold 

plank    91 

Sanderson,  Edward 35,  42,  46 

Sanger,  Casper  M 42 

Sawyer,  Philetus.35,  177,  178,  179,  181 

Schley,   Charles 173 

Schneider,   R.    B 174 

Scott,  Nathan  B 112,  160,  183 

Tribute    of 139 

Seaman,  William  H 65 

Select  Committee  on  Relations  of 

Members    152,    154 


Senator,  mentioned    as    candidate 

for    91 

Shallenberger,   William   S...II4,   173 
Shaughnessy,  Sir  Thomas  G.,  trib 
ute  by 38 

Shaw,  Leslie  M 117 

Tribute    by 157 

Shelburne  Falls  described 3 

Residence   at 4 

Regard   for 7 

Last  visit  to 163 

President  Roosevelt  at 164 

Sheldon,  George  R 58,  69 

Shepherd,  Henry n 

Sherwin,  F.  R.,  employer 9,  16 

Sherwin,  Nowell  and  Pratt 17 

Shirkshire    3 

Sholes,  Louis 24 

Shoup,  George  L 112 

Smith,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Albert  £...164 
Smith,    Charles    E.,  resigns   from 

Cabinet    114 

And  post  office  investigation.  .128 
And  Tulloch  charges.  ...  128,  130 
Smith,     Henry     Babington,     upon 

Mr.  Payne's  death 170 

Smith,  Rev.  Roland  Cotton,  D.  D..i66 

Officiates  at  funeral 171 

Smith,   William   E 42 

Snow,    Jabez I 

Society    of    Colonial   Wars,   Wis 
consin   54 

Southern     States     in     Republican 
conventions  and  elec 
tions  102,  113 

Spence,  Thomas  W 52 

Spofford,  Charles  A.,  tribute  by.  .  75 

Spoils  system 31,  45,  119 

Spooner,  John  C...I77,  178,  179,  181 

Tribute   by 37 

Candidate    for   Governor 87 

Re-election  to   Senate 99 

Friendship  for  Mr.  Payne.  ...  99 
Re-election  charged  to  bribery  99 
Speech  in  Senate  on  Mr.  Payne, 

119,  137,  155 
On  post  office  investigation.  .137 

At   funeral 174 

Stanley,   Charles   A 101 

Stanley,   Edward   George  Villiers, 
Lord,    upon    Mr.    Payne's 

death    170 

Stark,   Charles   G 50 

State  Central  Committee 42,  47 


INDEX 


195 


State  Historical  Society  of  Wiscon 
sin . 53 

Gift  of  his  cabinet  chair  to.  . .  53 

Stebbins,    De Wayne 101 

Stewart,    Graeme 174 

Stockholders,  employes  as 59 

Stoddard    and   Lincoln 10 

Stone,   Jesse 101 

Stone,  Melville  E 92,  93,  95 

Stone  lions   for  Lake   Park,   Mil 
waukee    54 

Stout,   James    H 101 

Street  railways  in  Milwaukee 

17,  56,  57 

Strike   on   Milwaukee   street   rail 
way  line 60,  74,  75,  77 

Sunderland    164 

Taylor,  George  W 101 

Taylor,  Horace  A 37,  47 

Taylor,   William  R 40 

Telephone,    early   experiments....  50 
Tenth  Massachusetts  regiment 

10,  163,  165 

Terminal  station,  Milwaukee 64 

Thayer,  Lyman  W 101 

Third  ward  fire,  Milwaukee 55 

Thomas,   Elias 161 

Thomas,  John  W 101 

Thomas,   Mary  Ware 20 

Thompson,   Henry  M 101 

Tilden,  Samuel  J 41 

Tillman,  Benjamin  R 82 

Timber  enterprises   49 

Timme,  Ernest  G 101 

Tomahawk,  interests  at. 48 

Townsend,  Akerley 24 

Tracewell,  Robert  J 130 

Transfers  on  railways  in  Milwau 
kee    71 

Treat,   Nathaniel   B 101 

Troy    17 

True,   John   M 101 

Tulloch,   Seymour  W 127 

Receives  note  from  Mr. 

Payne    128 

His    reply 129 

Interview  with  Mr.  Bristow..i29 
"Tulloch  charges,  the".  .  .127,  129, 131 

Turner's   Falls. 165 

Tyner,    James    N.,    resignation  of, 

asked    125 

Removal  of  papers  of.  ...127,  132 

Death   of 132 

"Unappreciated   type,    an" 175 

Unequal    representation    in    presi 
dential  conventions 101 


Upton,    Ellsworth 132 

Vance,  David 24,   173 

Vanderlip,   Frank  A 130 

Van  Dyke,  Lydia  Wood,  wife ....  20 
See  Payne,  Lydia  V. 

Van  Dyke,  Richard 20 

Van  Dyke  and  Malaby 20 

Veasey,   Ellen,   ancestor I 

Vice-president,  pressed  as  candi 
date  for no 

Vilas,  William  F.,  tribute  by 38 

Villard,  Henry 53,  57,  58,  68,  73 

Villiers,  Edward  George,  Lord 
Stanley,  on  Mr.  Payne's 

death    170 

Voters,  how  to  win 36,  43 

Wallber,      Emil,      candidacy      for 

mayor    45 

Walker,  George  H 17 

Wall,  Edward  C 58 

Tribute  by 37 

War  for  the  Union,  interest  in.  .10,  12 

Ward,    Lafayette,    teacher 7 

Warner,  John,   employer 9 

Washington  Avenue,  Milwaukee, 
litigation  concerning 

tracks    on ^  66 

Washington,  Mr.  Payne's  resi 
dence  in 1 14 

Washington  Post,  Mr.  Payne's 
statement  in,  as  to  investi 
gation  126 

And  the  Tulloch  charges 128 

On  the  Post  Office  investiga 
tion    134 

Waters,  Charles  M 143 

Weil,    Benjamin   M 26 

Welch,  Charles   H 101 

Welton,  Chauncey  B 101 

West,  Edward  K.,  tribute  by 41 

West,   Henry  H 23 

West,  Samuel  C 27 

West  Indies,  trip  to 126,  137 

West  Side  Railroad  Company.  .56,  57 

Wetmore,  Charles  W 69 

Whelan,  John  W 101 

Wheeler,  William  G 101 

Whitcomb,   Henry  F 50,   173 

Whitefish  Bay  Railroad  Com 
pany 56,    58 

Whitehead,   John   M IOI 

Whitney,  Francis  H.,  private  sec 
retary,  Milwaukee 114 

Same  in  Washington 114 

As  to  "hot  air"  statement 129 


196 


HENRY  CLAY  PAYNE:     A  LIFE 


As  to  errors  in  report  of  Post 
Office  Committee  of 
House    153 

At  death  of  Mr.  Payne. .  .167,  169 

At   funeral 172 

Whitney,  Leroy  C 173 

Wight,  William  W. 49 

Wiley,  Ariosto  A.,  tribute  by 15 

Willett,  James   P . 127 

Wilson,  James,  tribute  by 158 

At  funeral 172,   173 

Wilson,   William   L 118 

Winkler,  Frederick  C 34 

Tribute  by 45 

Winston,  P.  B 79 

Wipperman,  Herman  C 101 


Wisconsin  for  sound  money 94 

Wisconsin  Central  Railroad  Com 
pany    79 

Wisconsin    Telephone    Company.  .  50 

Mr.  Payne  as  officer  of .  . .  .50,  51 

Withee,    Levi 101 

Wolff,  George  W 101 

Woman's  head  on  postage  stamp.  .116 

Woodworth,    Dempster   W 101 

Wright,  C.  B.  B 173 

Wylie,    George 101 

Wyman,  Charles  D 63 

Tribute   by 76 

Young  Men's  Association  elections  22 
Young  Men's  Republican  Club.  . . 

24,  25,  35,  40 


THXS 


DATE 


AN  INITIAL  PINE  OF  25  CENTS 

°N  DAY 


JIAY_20J947 

44S 


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